US, vilified in a Venezuelan mural, is its best oil customer
Posted on 10/12/2008 5:59:47 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Venezuela's daily oil production has fallen by a quarter since President Hugo Chavez won power, depriving his "Bolivarian Revolution" of much of the benefit of the global boom in oil prices.
US, vilified in a Venezuelan mural, is its best oil customer
To win allies and forge an anti-American front, Mr Chavez sells oil to friendly countries at low prices. Ironically, the only big customer buying Venezuelan oil at the full market price is the United States, which the president routinely denounces as the "Empire".
"As production falls, the sales to the US become more important," said Pietro Donatello, an oil analyst from Latin Petroleum in the capital, Caracas. "Only the US is paying the full amount for Venezuelan oil and in cash, the rest are in some kind of barter agreements."
The state oil company, PDVSA, produced 3.2 million barrels per day in 1998, the year before Mr Chavez won the presidency. After a decade of rising corruption and inefficiency, daily output has now fallen to 2.4 million barrels, according to OPEC figures. About half of this oil is now delivered at a discount to Mr Chavez's friends around Latin America. The 18 nations in his "Petrocaribe" club, founded in 2005, pay Venezuela only 30 per cent of the market price within 90 days, with rest in instalments spread over 25 years.
The other half - 1.2 million barrels per day - goes to America, Venezuela's only genuinely paying customer.
Meanwhile, Mr Chavez has given PDVSA countless new tasks. "The new PDVSA is central to the social battle for the advance of our country," said Rafael Ramirez, the company's president and the minister for petroleum. "We have worked to convert PDVSA into a key element for the social battle."
The company now grows
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Remember to boycott Citgo everybody!
Senator Obama, are you watching? Venezuela is the Bad Example of why nationalization and government control of industry Does Not Work! The flaw is not in the implementation of socialism; it's in socialism itself!
Socialism never works anywhere it has been tried. I’m afraid we are about to learn that lesson in the USA too.
Since he has come to power, talented people are packing up and getting out of the country. The production of oil is not the only thing that has gone down since Chavez has taken power. A thoroughly predictable circumstance. The Venezuelans will slip further into poverty, as they are edified by anti-American rants from “the Great Leader.”
Drill here, DRILL NOW! Drive Chavez broke and his people will kick him out of kill him. I care now which course of action they take!
it’s going to be fun watching chavez, ahmadinejad and putin
suffer.
I’ve just added a lot of pins to my VOODOO dolls! :)
Ayres speech in Caracas two years ago was priceless. It tells you everything you need to know about Ayres and Obama!
“’...This is my fourth visit to Venezuela, each time at the invitation of my comrade and friend Luis Bonilla, a brilliant educator and inspiring fighter for...”.
the only way socialism can work if it is something like freddie mac, which can grow and grow unchecked...until it collapses.
you don’t want to go near a wounded tiger.
Something tells me monkey boy is headed for trouble.
What if the US simply said - Sorry! Embargo on Venezuelan Oil to the USA!
well there is
1) scandinavian style redistribution of wealth. leave the market alone except for taxing them to death.
2) fascist command control over the economy, like chavez
3) “Third way” public private partnerships like freddie mac and Commonwealth Care in massachusetts. Probably the moost dangerous because they appeal to moderates.
si.
Correcto. Think Depts. of Labor, HHR, Education, Energy, or just Escalante Monument.
yitbos
I have read somewhere that the drilling and production infastructures in Venezuela and Russia are in terrible shape and the Iranian monetary inflation is causing trouble with their international oil field suppliers.
Ain't socialism grand?
the ayers/acorn thuggery leads me to think 2) is more likely.
Once again the utter FAILURE of Communism/socialism is front and center.
My father was with the Federal Power Commission, which was one of those smaller agencies that did a good job; a super-agency like Energy swallowed it and the focus was lost. In the same way, many agencies that functioned well as independent security agencies are floundering in Homeland Security.
Better regulation is what we need to strive for. That usually means less regulation, but not in all cases.
If McCain loses, we must be organized as a lawful, civil, but firm opposition to Senator Obama.
“I have read somewhere that the drilling and production infastructures in Venezuela and Russia are in terrible shape and the Iranian monetary inflation is causing trouble with their international oil field suppliers.”
Infrastructure deteriorates and crumbles under communism? Whoa, say it ain’t so, Joe!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.