Posted on 07/24/2006 10:05:47 AM PDT by jmc1969
Richard Lugar, chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee, has urged the Bush administration to adopt specific "contingency plans" for a potential disruption to oil supplies from Venezuela.
In a letter sent to Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, last Friday, a copy of which has been obtained by the Financial Times, Mr Lugar warned the US that it needed to "abandon" reliance on a "passive approach" to energy diplomacy.
Mr Lugar's warning follows the release last month of an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that the US was ill-prepared for an oil embargo by Venezuela, the world's fifth largest exporter. President Hugo Chávez, whose government has been emboldened by a torrent of oil revenues, has several times warned that he would "cut off" oil supplies to the US if Washington persisted in allegedly plotting his overthrow.
"Venezuela's leverage over global oil prices and its direct supply lines and refining capacity in the US give Venezuela undue ability to impact US security and our economy," Mr Lugar wrote in his letter to Ms Rice.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
At least in the article, Lugar offers NO SOLUTIONS OR SUGGESTIONS, just a demand that President Bush take action.
Unfortunately, he is running unopposed this fall, not that I want a Democrat in the seat, but I did not vote for him in the primary. He drives me crazy, so safe in his position and such a waste of breathable air.
I don't think building refineries in the US would help much. If the world is producing at near maximum capacity, new refineries would just bid up the price of crude already on the market. The Arabs can see this. They are building new refineries to run their own crude and sell us upgraded (higher value) products.
He voted against the ban on drilling in ANWR.
Hey, I was gonna say that!!
The only way Venezuela could keep their oil away from the US would be to not export to anyone. If you look at a map, it is crazy for Chavez to try to sell his oil to China. Shanghai is 9,950 miles from Caracas via the great circle route that goes through the polar ice cap and the Arctic ocean. Actual feasible shipping routes would be at least 12,000 miles. Venezuela is on the wrong side of the Panama canal.
This map shows distances 10,000 and longer from Caracas, Venezuela shaded.
Whose side is this RINO A**HOLE on?I wonder how high the speculators will bid up oil based on this"What If"??
Bingo!Give that man a cigar!!
Unfortunately,only in your dreams!
Smaller tankers can traverse the Canal but their freight is higher because they haul less. Chavez doesn't worry about what the netback is to the Venezuelan people. He's more interested in becoming a demigod to the Left.
Let's prepare, indeed. Let's prepare by getting off of foriegn oil that can be cut off by our enemies. To not do so is absolutely insane.
I will bet REAL money that RINO Lugar voted Against!
Any of a number of things could disrupt the daily commute to the shopping mall.
Not to mention"American Idol"!
And that is the frustrating thing I was just thinking about the other day. Is there any organized movement - at all - that is leading us away from the mercy of the oil barrons? Where is the nuclear? Where is the additional coastal drilling? Is anyone building more refinery capacity? Why not?
Why is this administration not blazing the trail to make it easier for companies to drill and build? Where is the national energy policy that might bring relief and cut the cord to terrorist states?
Big Dick is a national asset.
TIME TO BREAK THE ENVIRONMENTAL BANS, Referendum in favor of Drilling to be voted on by all citizens and overturn Environmental laws both, in Our Country, and The U.N.
The U.N. and Dems in Congress, have been taking land and setting laws that are helping the environmental commies screw up Our Country.
U.N. Biospheres: A Scheme to Control People and Their Land
By C.J. Williams
MichNews.com
Apr 10, 2005
President Reagan pulled America out of UNESCO in 1984 because he believed it was totally corrupt. Perhaps bending to pressure of those behind the UN’s throne, George Bush returned our country to UNESCO in 2002, stating he was doing so as a “symbol of our commitment to human dignity…this organization has been reformed and America will participate fully in its mission to advance human rights and tolerance and learning.”
Because “we’ve” rejoined the U. N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, it’s Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB), which never really halted, will likely move full speed ahead in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Biospheres, however, are listed only at the request of the country in which they’re located, and can be removed from the biosphere reserve list at any time by a request from that country.
A U.N. Biosphere is a designated core area, usually federal public land operated by a government agency, generally the National Park Service. Biospheres can encompass a National Park, National Forest, Heritage Site, Historical Park, Scenic Highway, Wilderness Area, Designated Wetland, Wildlife Preserve, or a combination of these and/or several other things. The trend now is also to include public state and local municipality land as part of a Biosphere Reserve.
We Need to take back America!
Ops4
"When one source of supply is diverted to another point, then the other sources that had been selling competitively in the former market, simply step up their deliveries, with scarcely a hiccup in supply."
Isn't even that hard, many times a tanker load will chsnge hands many times before it's ever delivered.
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.