Posted on 04/08/2002 6:44:26 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
LONDON (Reuters) - World oil prices soared on Monday when Iraq announced an immediate suspension of oil exports in protest at Israel's incursion into Palestinian controlled areas of the West Bank.
The news prompted a frenzy of buying by traders who already feared a halt in shipments from the world's No. 4 crude exporter Venezuela.
International benchmark Brent crude oil jumped $1.01 to $27.00 per barrel by midday in London, resuming an assault on a six-month high of $28.15 seen last week.
U.S. crude futures rose 73 cents to $26.94.
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said all oil exports were suspended from Monday for a month or until Israel withdrew unconditionally.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed to press ahead with its sweeping military offensive in defiance of U.S. demands for a withdrawal.
OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez (Venezuela) said he will consult with cartel oil ministers on Tuesday and the group could hold an emergency meeting to decide policy.
Sanctions-bound Iraq is the sixth largest oil supplier to the United States, and ships four percent of world exports. Saddam has already called on other Arab producers to embargo the West for its support of Israel, and Libya has backed the call.
Fellow Gulf oil exporter Iran has said a total blockade by all Islamic states would be very a effective weapon, and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Friday for Arab states to launch a one month embargo on the West.
The world's No.1 exporter Saudi Arabia has said it had ample capacity to respond to any major disruption.
Industrialized countries fear high oil prices could damage the nascent economic recovery.
VENEZUELAN CONFUSION
Industry sources said Venezuelan oil loadings were halted at the weekend and oilfield output was already down by half, although the Venezuelan leader insisted on Sunday that production and exports were normal.
Venezuelan state oil company executives are protesting against the government's choice of a new board of directors.
Oil market traders said as many as 25 empty oil tankers were at Venezuelan ports waiting to load on Sunday, and one source said production was already cut by 60 percent.
Venezuela supplies about 15 percent of U.S. oil imports. Latest U.S. government data shows it accounted for about 1.4 million barrels per day of crude imports and another 300,000 bpd of products such as gasoline and diesel.
President Hugo Chavez announced the sacking of seven dissidents from the state oil company on Sunday, labeling them "saboteurs."
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has cut production by five million bpd since January 2001 to buoy prices, and in March agreed to extend output restrictions until at least its next meeting in June.
Russia and Norway, which both agreed to join OPEC in crude supply curbs, said on Monday it was too early to reconsider the policy now.
I'm waiting. And no doubt will be when Doomsday comes.
LOL!!! I've been waiting for YOU to cite one major mode of our transportation infrastructure that HASN'T benefitted from some form of government assistance.
You CAN'T.
From the original postal roads to the early canals and system of locks and dams that make our rivers navigable, the original development of the railways, the old U.S. Highway system, all our major airports and air-traffic control system (heck, even jet engines were originally developed for the military), the Interstate Highway System, bridges, tunnels, etc. etc.
Your persistant insistance that mass-transportation must be purely financed by the private sector is unrealistic and adolescent. Government has a legitimate role in the development of such infrastructure. And if local government chooses to subsidize mass-transit, which is often the case, I have no problem with that either. Good transportation infrastructure facilitates economic activity and benefits everbody.
Furthermore, as a conservative, I also advocate participation of the private sector in the development and operation of such systems. NOBODY wants to see their tax dollars disappear into an ineffective government bureacracy, so "privatization" should be employed as much as possible.
However, as stated before, your idealistic 'private sector only' mantra is impractical, unrealistic and juvenile.
My argument wasn't that infrastructure isn't supported by tax dollars -- it was that mass transit needs proportionally more designated government subsidies because nobody wants to use it. This is in contrast to highway/road infrastructure, which is completely tax supported by its USERS (excise taxes on tires and gasoline). I also made the point that local governments attempt to force transport behavior into mass transit to prop up their unused, unwanted transit systems. They do this by creating disincentives for people to use their own vehicles.
My final point was that is isn't "conservative" to attempt to shoehorn society into niches that you think appropriate. It's authoritarian social engineering.
But you knew that.
And I see that you're still clueless.
But, I knew that. :-)
Earth to Cincinatus...
Earth to Cincinatus...
MILLIONS of Americans use public mass-transportation on a daily basis...
Please extract your head from your rectum accordingly...
That is all. Over and out.
And you think it's because they want to. What a nimrod!! ROFL!!
Please extract your head from your rectum accordingly...
At least mine's up my own, and not Pat Buchanan's. ROFL!!
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