Posted on 01/15/2009 7:28:49 AM PST by DGHoodini
CARACAS: President Hugo Chávez, buffeted by falling oil prices that threaten to damage his efforts to establish a Socialist-inspired state, is quietly courting Western oil companies once again.
Until recently, Chávez had pushed foreign oil companies here into a corner by nationalizing their oil fields, raiding their offices with tax authorities and imposing a series of royalties increases.
But faced with the plunge in prices and a decline in domestic production, senior officials here have begun soliciting bids from some of the largest Western oil companies in recent weeks - including Chevron, Royal Dutch/Shell and Total of France - promising them access to some of the world's largest petroleum reserves, according to energy executives and industry consultants here.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Drink it Hugo.
I fully expect our new Congress to raise the gas tax in kind.
Hugo Chavez is an asshat. Let him drink his own oil.
Time to twist the knife!
a decline in domestic production
Wow, who could have predicted that?
First, you will pay for what you stole, with 10% interest, up front. Then you will apologize to everyone you stole from. And finally, you will cross those oil fields and kiss the arse of the oil company executives. And THEN, we will begin negotiations.
Fool me once, shame on you . . . if the oil companies are stupid enough to believe he won’t once again nationalize their assets when the time comes, then they deserve what they get.
What company is stupid enough to get back in bed with this guy? Probably, quite a few.
Obama’s sash ...
Hey oil companies, are you smarter than Odummer?
If they *do* go back in, they should design ttheir systems so that if they are again ousted, arrested, or otherwise taken out of control, it won’t be years before the equipment fails, but days.
No one has any confidence in Obama. The markets and businesses think he is as bad or worse than chavez.
If any of the majors or western oils jump back into bed with this guy they deserve what they’ll get. Hugo will play nice as long as commodities are weak, but once crude tightens up again he’ll be running to the chicoms and pooty poot and their investments will again be nationalized.
Maybe, but it would likely be to attempt to recover the assets they lost when Chavez nationalized the oil industry in Venezuela. Granted my understanding of the oil business is limited, but from what I've read Venezuelan oil is more difficult to refine. It's not likely that a whole bunch of oil companies will be willing to go after Venezuelan crude at current prices, especially after what Hugo did to them just a couple of years ago.
I think old Hugo might be seeing the light of torches illuminating pitchforks right about now and he's doing anything he can to appease the unruly masses.....
I think they know that, besides, giant reserves are everywhere, they know that too, have been quietly preparing to suck safer supplies.
This is one example.
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