I was reading about Iraq's shutdown of oil supplies (which affects the US, since all oil is really part of a global supply network) and thinking "what about those pesky Venezualans"? Well, your post answers that.
This is interesting. What if neglected South America does start behaving like an entity? And all South American resources supported that area, instead of being sold/exploited/(choose your verb} to the benefit of US/European/global economic considerations?
Right now, I feel as if the situation in Israel is under control...but this is a wild card.
Venezuela syncrude challenging Mideast oil in U.S.--[Excerpt] The first shipment of Sincor will go to TotalFinaElf's refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, this month. Sincor is expected to hit full production by the end of the year.
U.S. refiner Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corp., a unit of Valero Energy Corp. has signed a three-year contract to take 45,000 bpd of the new ``Zuata Sweet'' crude to its Three Rivers refinery near Corpus Christi, Texas.
While analysts and oil companies warn that new oil terms put in place under Venezuela's new hydrocarbon's law may prevent further heavy oil investment, the Ministry of Energy and Mines said the tar belt would provide stable supply for decades.
``We have oil in the Orinoco to last for the next 35 to 40 years,'' said a Ministry spokesman. [End Excerpt]
Venezuela's Chavez says he'll declare emergency and militarize company if oil workers strike-[Excerpt] CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez is ready to declare a state of emergency if oil-workers at the nation's state-owned oil monopoly try to paralyze production.
Chavez accused opposition labor and political leaders of sowing discontent at Petroleos de Venezuela SA and said he had a contingency plan ready should workers and management go on strike. He didn't elaborate on the plan.
"If they shut down the company, we'll militarize it. I am not going to allow Petroleos de Venezuela to be shut down," Chavez said.
"It won't bother me to continue to fulfill my obligation, to sign an emergency decree. This is a company of high strategic value, and I am ready to order its intervention and throw out those who don't want to be there," he said. [End Excerpt]
Castro, Chávez Decry Inequalities, Condemn IMF [Excerpt] MONTERREY, Mexico--The world is living "a true genocide" and one cannot blame "this strategy on the poor countries. They are not the ones who conquered and pillaged entire continents over the centuries, nor did they establish colonialism, implant slavery, or create modern- day imperialism," said the Cuban leader in a speech that won enthusiastic applause from NGO delegates at the conference.
According to his colleague Chávez, the world "is not only twisted," but it is "backwards," and the leaders of the world must straighten it out, he said in his address on behalf of the Group of 77, a bloc of 133 developing countries, plus China. "In name of all the poor of the planet," the Venezuelan president called upon governments "to act, and not just speak," and urged them to save the world, which, he said, suffers a grave "social crisis." He also demanded that the role of the IMF be revised, because its "recipes" for development have been "venom" for poor countries.
According to Castro, the final document to be signed by the government officials Friday in Monterrey is "a project of consensus that has been imposed upon us by the masters of the world...in which we resign ourselves to humiliating, conditional, and interventionist handouts." "It is time for calm reflection among politicians and national leaders. The belief that an economic and social order that has proven to be unsustainable can be imposed by force is a crazy idea," he said. The discourse laid out by Castro and Chávez was among the only ones that the NGO leaders said they supported. [End Exceprt]