Free Republic

Chávez to sign oil agreements, sparking optimism in Ecuador QUITO, May 30 – Social movements, campesinos and Ecuadorian politicians today welcomed the visit of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and expressed optimism regarding the agreements that he will sign to strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation. “The presence of Chávez makes it possible to reinforce cooperation agreements between the two nations and at this moment I think this is crucial for the country,” stated Virgilio Hernández of the Foro Urbano. He emphasized that the proposal by Caracas regarding crude oil refinement is absolutely key; it must be taken advantage of in terms...

NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is seeking damages totaling more than $1 billion as part of an arbitration claim against the Ecuadorean government for seizing its assets, a company spokesman said on Thursday. The U.S. oil producer has also terminated all local employees in Ecuador and is relocating its expatriate staff, the spokesman said.

Venezuela and Mexico are among the potential strategic partners for joint operations in the fields that used to be developed by oil corporation Oxy. The corporate agreement to drill oil in the Ecuadorian Amazon was made null and void, the Ecuadorian Government disclosed Tuesday. "There is the possibility of forming a strategic alliance with a state company, as set forth in the regulations," Ecuadorian Minister of Energy Iván Rodríguez said. Additionally, there is the possibility of "contracting directly a state company of a foreign country to reinforce technically Petroproducción. The subsidiary of state oil company Petroecuador will be responsible for...

Latin America: Ecuador's government deserves all the trouble it's got coming now that it's decided expropriation is the way to get rich. But the trouble won't come from the U.S. It's headed their way from Ecuadoreans....The loss of Ecuador's hard-won free-trade pact with the U.S., something it was on the razor's edge of signing, is virtually guaranteed. Ecuador also will probably lose all practical access to U.S. markets when its 2006 Andean trade preferences expire.Two free-trade-pact neighbors, Peru and Colombia, will gladly help themselves to Ecuador's market share in exports of flowers, shrimp and other regional specialties. About 60% of...

Excerpt - QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) - Ecuador's Energy Minister said on Monday the government would revoke a contract held by Occidental Petroleum and strip the U.S. company of its assets in South America's fifth biggest oil producer. "We accept the demand and petition of Petroecuador (the state oil company) and the country's attorney general and declare the annulment of the contract," Minister Ivan Rodriguez told reporters. The long-running legal row with Occidental has sparked repeated protests by indigenous groups and poor Amazon regions demanding the government expel the company and introduce reforms giving the poor more benefits from oil revenues....

Swastikas for Campus ConservativesBy Jason AntebiFrontPageMagazine.com | December 9, 2005 Occidental College in Los Angeles may epitomize what’s wrong in higher education. Professors cancel class to encourage their students to attend a protest against the “Bush Regime,” campus leaders are forced into mandatory “diversity/sensitivity training,” and some far-Left students seem to believe that a liberal arts education consists of little more than painting a portrait of Bill Clinton. Tuition money – in excess of $40,000 per pupil – is wasted on courses such as "The Unbearable Whiteness of Barbie" and “Stupidity,” a mandatory course for some freshmen, which compares incidents...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Florida prosecutors head to court Monday to get access to Rush Limbaugh's medical records. Palm Beach County is investigating alleged prescription-drug abuse. Records were seized in late 2003. Prosecutors want to see if the radio commentator went "doctor shopping" for pain medication. Limbaugh has not been charged with any crime. He's denied any wrongdoing. Limbaugh's attorneys have fought the seizures, claiming a violation of privacy rights. But last month, the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal, clearing the way for prosecutors to seek the documents. Limbaugh acknowledged his addiction to pain medication in...

A state trooper who was popping prescription painkillers to beat a career-threatening injury was arrested yesterday on charges he knocked off a Natick drug store's OxyContin supply at gunpoint the day after Christmas. Christopher Shields, 41, who's been on medical leave for more than a year, was picked up at an undisclosed health-care facility in Worcester where authorities said he checked in after getting bagged shoplifting soda, DVDs and magazines in Sudbury last Thursday. ``There are some personal problems going on here we hope to be able to assist him with, but he's made his bed and he's pretty much...

Bizarre campaign pays off as US oil giant quits Amazon projectWhen geologists from US oil giant Oxy found what they believed was one of the largest oil fields in Latin America in 1994, there was jubilation in the company's Los Angeles HQ. Oxy - closely linked to former US presidential candidate Al Gore - was confident enough to tell shareholders there could be 1.4 billion barrels in Colombia's Samore field and a further 900 million barrels in an adjacent area. More than $100m (£68m) of research and seismic studies, said Oxy, pointed to its concession being the country's most promising-ever...