[thackney]

It is crazy they way we are prevented from developing our own resources.

[weegee]

Well, now we can go one better: how do you feel about countries taping that supply while we cannot? What if it's a Communist country, living under a dictatorship?

That's just fine with the Communists in the enviromentalism movement. It's all about bashing the U.S.A.

[kittymyrib]

LOL...that's the far-sighted wisdom of Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson coming into play. They ban the US from drilling for oil within 150 mi. from Florida, but Castro will be making money off oil that Florida should be pumping. Castro is much smarter, even in his dotage, than the RINO immigrant and the clueless astronaut are. Floridians should pay a Stupid Voters Tax to the US Treasury for putting these two bozos in office and penalizing the rest of the country.

[CGASMIA68]

Sometimes I think Kruschev was right.We can be so dumb and PC will be our demise.

[Toby06]

our competitors must just look at us and shake their heads in disbelief that we won't tap our own rich reserves of natural resources, most notably with coal, in ANWR and in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

There's coal in ANWR and the OCS? I guess I need to read up on underwater coal mining procedures for that OCS coal.

[BallyBill]

Mexico and now Cuba taking oil from the Gulf. Maybe if we are real nice to them, they'll sell us the oil that we could drill ourselves.

[saganite]

Not only that, whatever Castro does out there will be environmentally unsound and technologically out of date. The chances of a major spill are quite a bit greater. Frankly, I think it would be pretty ironic if Miami beach were inundated with Castros oil.

[painter]

When the price of gas gets really high Katheren Harris should beat up Nelson over this.

[joe fonebone]

I thought we only recognized a 12 mile limit.......after that, i think you can do whatever you damn well please...so, why don't american companies just drill, and to hell with the envirinmental wacko's..................

[goldstategop]

Mexico is drilling offshore but we can't? I wonder what the hell is wrong with the thinking processes in this country.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Tribune7]

We have too many very stupid people in too many places of high influence.

[Wallace T.]

I hate to say it, because he is an evil Communist tyrant, but good for Castro for protecting the economic interests of his country. He is doing more in that respect than are the so-called Republicans who control the governorship and both houses of the legislature in Florida.

[Let's Roll]

And then the lib whackos blame Bush and/or the oil companies for high prices. Definitely damned if you do and damned if you don't - the perfect storm.

[Libloather]

CUBA, VENEZUELA TO REFURBISH OIL REFINERY

Havana
AP
MSN
Infosearch:
Jose F. Sánchez
Bureau Chief
Cuba
Research Dept.
La Nueva Cuba
April 12, 2006

Communist Cuba is deepening its relationship with oil-producing Venezuela, forming a joint venture to refurbish an idled Soviet-era oil refinery in central Cuba, the two countries said Tuesday.

President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez were at the ceremony Monday night where officials signed the contract between the two nations' state oil companies, the Communist Party newspaper Granma said. Venezuela's oil company issued a similar statement.

Cuba will hold 51 percent of the new joint venture, to be called PDV-CUPET SA, with Venezuela holding the remaining 49 percent.

The agreement fulfills a letter of intent signed last year by Castro's government and the administration of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez under their own vision for a regional trade agreement, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas. Cuba and Venezuela, so far its only members, hope to expand it to include other countries.

Neither Granma nor the Venezuelan announcement gave financial details. But last year, an executive of the state firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, said the project would cost between US$60 million (euro50 million) and $100 million (euro83 million) .

Alejandro Granado, PDVSA's director of refining, said at the time the rehabilitated Soviet-era refinery could open as early as June 2007 and would initially process 65,000 barrels of crude daily.

During a news conference Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of a short-lived coup attempt against his older brother, President Chavez, Venezuelan Ambassador Adan Chavez said that the two countries soon will form three other joint ventures: a publishing company and firms to produce music recordings and films.

Adan Chavez said the joint ventures are "agreements for cooperation in our America. No one is trying to take advantage of the other."

The Cuba-Venezuela pact is an alternative to the Washington-backed Free Trade Area for the Americas, which Castro and Hugo Chavez say is a U.S. effort to "annex" Latin America.

The new petroleum joint venture will rehabilitate an idled Soviet-era refinery in the central city of Cienfuegos on Cuba's southern coast to refine, store and distribute crude oil.

The announcement comes as trade rapidly increases between the two political allies.

Cuba-Venezuela trade is projected to reach more than $3.5 billion (euro2.9 billion) this year, Adan Chavez told The Associated Press here during an exclusive interview here last week.

That's up 40 percent from the $2.5 billion (euro2 billion) in trade in 2005, the ambassador told the AP on Friday. He quoted slightly lower trade estimates during the Tuesday news conference.

The bulk of trade comes from the 90,000 barrels of crude petroleum that oil-producing Venezuela sends to the communist-run island daily.

http://www.lanuevacuba.com/nuevacuba/notic-06-04-1201.htm

[gathersnomoss]

I think Castro should drill away. Right into the left's face.

[daivid]

one better: how do you feel about countries taping that supply while we cannot?

With a VHS video camera? With duct tape?

[usmcobra]

Say you saw it here first.

[I got the rope]

Manufacturers group chief urges action on gas supply

[Tribune7]

ping

[I got the rope]

Click here for a .pdf file of the Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson "KEEP OUR COUNTRY DEPENDANT ON ARAB OIL BILL

[M. Espinola]

It's economic madness U.S. laws forbid offshore drilling in key locations while a Red tyrant 90 miles off the coast of Key West is drilling.