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Oil from Venezuela
kiwibird1
Member Posts: 1,639 ✭✭✭✭✭
A good article about oil from Venezuela I found on K-house news.
The United States is now more dependent on oil imports than ever before. In 1950, it imported just one-tenth of its oil supplies. By 1973, the share of imported oil had grown to one-third. Today, the United States gets nearly two-thirds of its petroleum from abroad. Many of these foreign suppliers, however, are politically and economically unstable.
In June 2004, the price of oil reached $42 a barrel - the highest point ever in 21 years of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange - pushing average US gasoline prices to more than $2 per gallon. The surge had numerous causes, including higher Chinese demand and insecurity in the Middle East. The root of the crisis, however, lay closer to home: in Venezuela, where a general strike in late 2002 and early 2003 severely constricted the flow of oil and gasoline for several months. Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter and provides about 13 percent of US crude oil imports.
For the first time, the US oil supply was significantly disrupted by strife in a region other than the Middle East. The Venezuelan strike was also the first disruption not caused by a war, revolution, or embargo, but rather by a slow, debilitating political standoff.
Venezuela, led by Hugo Chavez, suffers from increasing political turmoil. Before President Chavez came to power in 1998, oil-rich Venezuela was a wealthy nation and one of South America's oldest democracies. This wealth attracted a large influx of poor immigrants from neighboring Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and the Caribbean. The poor became increasingly resentful of the wealthy and middle class. Chavez, who had been imprisoned for a failed coup in 1992 but was later released, became the champion of the poor during the 1998 elections.
Chavez won the election with 56 percent of the vote. He immediately embraced Cuba's communist leader, Fidel Castro, as Venezuela's chief ally, called Iraq's Saddam Hussein his "brother", aligned himself with Libya's Moammar Qadaffi, and formed alliances with North Korea's Kim Yong-Il and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Venezuela is one of the founding members of OPEC and is strongly aligned with the Islamic oil-producing nations of the Middle East. President Hugo Chavez recently defended Iran in its dispute with the United States and Europe over its nuclear program, saying Iran has a right to atomic energy.
Venezuela is emerging as a potential hub of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere, providing assistance to Islamic radicals from the Middle East and other terrorists. Middle Eastern terrorist groups are operating cells in Venezuela, including support cells for organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Thousands of Venezuelan identity documents are being distributed to foreigners from Middle Eastern nations, including Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, and Lebanon.
Venezuela is also supporting armed opposition groups from neighboring Colombia. These groups are on the official US list of terrorist organizations. These groups generate funds through money laundering, drug trafficking, or arms deals and make millions of dollars every year through illicit activities.
Last week Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld criticized Venezuela's reported efforts to purchase 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles from Russia. The US government is concerned that the weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists and that Venezuela's military buildup could trigger a South American arms race. Venezuela also is negotiating for the purchase of at least 40 Russian combat aircraft, at least 30 Russian attack helicopters, and possibly some Spanish naval vessels.
In addition to its support of terrorism, Venezuela has been a source of serious economic concern. Despite the country's tremendous oil wealth, most Venezuelans remain quite poor. Like many South American nations there is a vastly unequal distribution of income. As much as 80 percent of the population lives in poverty. In 2003 unemployment was 18 percent, the inflation rate was recorded at a staggering 31 percent, and the GDP declined by 9.2 percent. Some experts speculate that Venezuela might follow in Argentina's footsteps and default on its foreign debt. Venezuela's economy is dangerously over-dependent on the petroleum industry. Oil accounts for roughly one-third of its GDP, around 80 percent of its export earnings, and more than half of government operating revenues. Chavez has threatened to stop exporting oil to the US if the Bush administration supports an attempt to force him from office. Chavez has also threatened to sell Citgo - a subsidiary of Venezuela's primary state-owned oil company. Citgo supplies gasoline to over 14,000 retail outlets in the US and owns oil refineries in Illinois, Louisiana, and Texas.
With major developments happening in Israel and Iraq on a daily basis it isn't hard to understand why the situation in Venezuela has been largely overlooked. However Venezuela's socialist leadership still poses a serious threat to the interests and security of the United States - a fact which will undoubtedly become more apparent in the coming weeks and months.
Greg.
Takeoffs are optional, landings are mandatory.
The United States is now more dependent on oil imports than ever before. In 1950, it imported just one-tenth of its oil supplies. By 1973, the share of imported oil had grown to one-third. Today, the United States gets nearly two-thirds of its petroleum from abroad. Many of these foreign suppliers, however, are politically and economically unstable.
In June 2004, the price of oil reached $42 a barrel - the highest point ever in 21 years of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange - pushing average US gasoline prices to more than $2 per gallon. The surge had numerous causes, including higher Chinese demand and insecurity in the Middle East. The root of the crisis, however, lay closer to home: in Venezuela, where a general strike in late 2002 and early 2003 severely constricted the flow of oil and gasoline for several months. Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter and provides about 13 percent of US crude oil imports.
For the first time, the US oil supply was significantly disrupted by strife in a region other than the Middle East. The Venezuelan strike was also the first disruption not caused by a war, revolution, or embargo, but rather by a slow, debilitating political standoff.
Venezuela, led by Hugo Chavez, suffers from increasing political turmoil. Before President Chavez came to power in 1998, oil-rich Venezuela was a wealthy nation and one of South America's oldest democracies. This wealth attracted a large influx of poor immigrants from neighboring Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and the Caribbean. The poor became increasingly resentful of the wealthy and middle class. Chavez, who had been imprisoned for a failed coup in 1992 but was later released, became the champion of the poor during the 1998 elections.
Chavez won the election with 56 percent of the vote. He immediately embraced Cuba's communist leader, Fidel Castro, as Venezuela's chief ally, called Iraq's Saddam Hussein his "brother", aligned himself with Libya's Moammar Qadaffi, and formed alliances with North Korea's Kim Yong-Il and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Venezuela is one of the founding members of OPEC and is strongly aligned with the Islamic oil-producing nations of the Middle East. President Hugo Chavez recently defended Iran in its dispute with the United States and Europe over its nuclear program, saying Iran has a right to atomic energy.
Venezuela is emerging as a potential hub of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere, providing assistance to Islamic radicals from the Middle East and other terrorists. Middle Eastern terrorist groups are operating cells in Venezuela, including support cells for organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Thousands of Venezuelan identity documents are being distributed to foreigners from Middle Eastern nations, including Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, and Lebanon.
Venezuela is also supporting armed opposition groups from neighboring Colombia. These groups are on the official US list of terrorist organizations. These groups generate funds through money laundering, drug trafficking, or arms deals and make millions of dollars every year through illicit activities.
Last week Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld criticized Venezuela's reported efforts to purchase 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles from Russia. The US government is concerned that the weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists and that Venezuela's military buildup could trigger a South American arms race. Venezuela also is negotiating for the purchase of at least 40 Russian combat aircraft, at least 30 Russian attack helicopters, and possibly some Spanish naval vessels.
In addition to its support of terrorism, Venezuela has been a source of serious economic concern. Despite the country's tremendous oil wealth, most Venezuelans remain quite poor. Like many South American nations there is a vastly unequal distribution of income. As much as 80 percent of the population lives in poverty. In 2003 unemployment was 18 percent, the inflation rate was recorded at a staggering 31 percent, and the GDP declined by 9.2 percent. Some experts speculate that Venezuela might follow in Argentina's footsteps and default on its foreign debt. Venezuela's economy is dangerously over-dependent on the petroleum industry. Oil accounts for roughly one-third of its GDP, around 80 percent of its export earnings, and more than half of government operating revenues. Chavez has threatened to stop exporting oil to the US if the Bush administration supports an attempt to force him from office. Chavez has also threatened to sell Citgo - a subsidiary of Venezuela's primary state-owned oil company. Citgo supplies gasoline to over 14,000 retail outlets in the US and owns oil refineries in Illinois, Louisiana, and Texas.
With major developments happening in Israel and Iraq on a daily basis it isn't hard to understand why the situation in Venezuela has been largely overlooked. However Venezuela's socialist leadership still poses a serious threat to the interests and security of the United States - a fact which will undoubtedly become more apparent in the coming weeks and months.
Greg.
Takeoffs are optional, landings are mandatory.
Comments
Ever see the movie Red Dawn?
If God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made tham out of meat!
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. LIBERTY IS A WELL ARMED LAMB CONTESTING THE VOTE.....Benjamin Franklin ...1759...//// YOU KNOW WHAT IS REALLY ANNOYING? TO ENGAGE IN DEBATE WITH A PERSON'S INTELLECT, ONLY TO DISCOVER YOU ARE REALLY ARGUING WITH THEIR EGO!... MOLLY...2005
WHAT EFFORT? There are almost ZERO border patrol agents on the THOUSANDS of miles of Canadian/US border.......
I'm WAY more worried about terrorist coming in through the north, than the south.........EVERYONE is focused on the southern border. Where would YOU try to get through?
Merc
"You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone. " - Al Capone, (1899-1947)
"Tolerating things you may not necessarily like is part of being free" - Larry Flynt
Haven't you folks been burned once already by no WMDs and no Al Qaeda links in Iraq?!? My god... I'm reminded of that joke about the kid digging through a pile of manure looking for a pony!
What next? We invade Venzuela, get locked down in another long-term occupation at the cost of hundreds of billions and then say, "Oops - no terrorist ties here! But look! Our brave warriors are defending us from... uh... from... well, we though Chavez was putting Scuds on llamas!"
Yeah, he doesn't like us. Heads up folks - Uncle Sam ain't exactly akin to Santa Claus in Latin America. Chavez just happens to be a little more honest in his distaste for us.
Does that make him a threat? No. It may make him an @$$hole, but if that were an excuse for regime change, every single one of our presidents since Kennedy would have been given the boot by foreign intervention.
Let Chavez bark all he likes - he's no more a threat than Saddam was.
I live in oil country here in NWPA. Oil has been pumped from the ground here for a hundred years, and the estimate is tha we've tapped 1 third of the available product from our patch. The problem is, the DER and EPA have made it impossible to operate inexpensively. Around here, if you drilled in a well and it blows out, that's not a cause for celebration, it's a $60k fine. Environmental laws have made it cost prohibitive for oil production to take place here, as I'm sure it is everywhere else. Same with the 'natural gas shortage' falacy that we get around here every time the gas company 'needs' a rate increase. the average home operates on about 2 oz of gas pressure. Now picture working a hole that's blowing 160-200lbs of pressure of natural gas that's 7 times hotter than what the product going through the pipe to your house. In an 8 hour period, we free vented enough gas to Service the medium sized town and a 50 mile radius for 15 months. (and that was from the National Fuel rep that was standing there).
Big oil does not want to Deal with domestic production, because the profit margin is not there. the current administration isn't going to do much because a large majority of our politico's are 'fueled' (pun intended) by Oil Interests. Never bite the hand that feeds ya! the highter it is, the more they make. and if the product is more expensive at the head, makes no difference to them. You pay more to cover it.
If we raised the production domestically, even 10 %, it would send a message to the towellheads and other gougers that twist our country incessantly, control our economy, etc.
Little out of the box from the post, but relevant.
If God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made tham out of meat!
I'm not advocating INVASION...but vigilance is much in order.
Of course, ANYTHING(preferably limited to his evil personage) that expedites the demise of the Castro reign of terror and oppression in Cuba should be considered WORTHWHILE and RECOMMENDED! Having traveled there myself (NOT as a tourist) within the past five years, I know Cuba to be a freedom-loving paradise waiting to burst forth into bloom--flowers to mark with GLADNESS the passing of Castro. The last thing they need NOW is a corrupting outside ally to substantiate Castro's "legacy."
I agree that we should keep an eye on world events - you know I'm no isolationist. But neither am I a knee-jerk interventionist.
The problem with the current American world view is that it is so starkly black-and-white. Back in the day if you weren't NATO or Japan, you were, no ands, ifs, or buts, a godless commie.
Nowadays? You're a "terrorist!"
For being a superpower, we certainly have the mindset of a bunch of spineless p@$$!es. Is our way of life truly so precarious that one loudmouth Latin American dictator-wannabe really poses a threat to us? "Oh my god! TERRORISTS!" We talk big, but mention the "T" word and you'll have everyone from the White House on down scurrying for cover and demanding action.
Let Venezuela make all the alliances it wants. We're only against it because it is in direct violation of the Monroe Doctrine and we can't have Latin America looking out for itself, now can we?
rcrxmike_2,
I was referring to Santa's popularity as opposed to ours. I don't dispute that we hand them out more goodies than good ol' Saint Nick - I'm just saying that we're not as popular. Should've clarified that.
Ramtin,
...neither am I a knee-jerk interventionist.
...we can't have Latin America looking out for itself, now can we?
EMM: Neither am I a "knee-jerk interventionist." I've long abhored the self- and otherwise- applied moniker of the U.S. as the "world's policeman." Many places our nose has been that it did not/does not belong. Iraq is certainly arguable, even now. While I was happy to see Saddam deposed, we've spent too much in lives and $$$ on the aftermath. Bring'em home, already, I'm not afraid to say.
Re: "Latin America looking out for itself" It is not with any inkling of superiority or "world policemanship" mentality that I put forth that Latin America has not historically done a very efficient job of "looking out for itself" when it comes to ideological corruption. Though foreign countries have perhaps not been directly threatening to the status quo, enough renegades and outcasts from "rebel states" have brought their notions along when they moved into the region. Not that I think they shouldn't be free to form their own alliances, in a general sense, but with regard to CUBA and any other volatile entity with such close proximity/strategic interest to the "homeland," I'd rather we err on the side of self-preservation and self-interest. As a "would-be" student of Teddy Roosevelt, I can't see him sanctioning such in the present world political climate. Just my $.02...[:)]
Good point, but insofar as regional troublespots go, I'm not really concerned with Castro all that much. He's old, his country is broke, and his idea of forging strategic ties with "hostile" powers is building hotels for Chinese tourists.
Mexico, Colombia, and Bolivia are much higher on my list of worries right now because at no other time has their impact on us been greater. Vincente Fox is encouraging and enabling a mass migration into the United States and while we in the United States may be blessedly free of the sort of racial strife that afflicts the rest of the world, Latin America still deals very much in nationalistic race-based politics.
How much longer will it be before Fox or his successor declares Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California as part of a "Greater Mexico" or a "reborn Aztlan"? This sort of demographic shift is exactly what caused so much trouble in Kosovo and that place is the size of a postage stamp.
Colombia's FARC and Bolivia's Shining Path are true-blue, hard-core psychotic revolutionary drug-running scumbags with international connections to other terrorist groups. They have the ability to circumvent national boundaries with ease and a seemingly endless supply of cash courtesy of the narcotics trade.
Somehow Chavez just doesn't match up to any of that.
Let him buy all the missiles and jets he wants - that stuff is expensive to buy, expensive to maintain, and expensive to train with.
Right now, in my opinion, he's just all talk. Real enemies don't advertise themselves so publicly.
Mexico, Colombia, and Bolivia are much higher on my list of worries right now because at no other time has their impact on us been greater. ...
Yep, 'zactly the sort of "volatile entities" I had in mind. Fox is at best "opportunistic" with regard to making some sort of stupid geo-political move, and at worst, he's a closet megalomaniac. And our beloved W seems to be so chummy with the guy...what's up with that? [V]