Changing world power ?

[Guest guest]

whadya reckon of this then? seeing the odd political thingy gets reported here?

 

 

CHAVEZ RULES OUT RETURN TO CHEAP OILBy Meirion Jones BBC NewsnightApril 3, 2006http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=485 & row=0If you thought high oil prices were just a blip think again. In an exclusiveinterview with Greg Palast for BBC Newsnight the Venezuelan President HugoChavez has ruled out any return to the era of cheap oil.The colourful Venezuelan leader hosts the OPEC meeting on June 1 in Caracasand he will ask OPEC to set $50 a barrel -- the average price last year --as the long term level. During the 1990s the price of oil had hovered aroundthe $20 mark falling as low as $10 a barrel in early 1999.Chavez told Newsnight "we're trying to find an equilibrium. The price of oilcould remain at the low level of $50. That's a fair price it's not a highprice". Hugo Chavez will have added clout at this OPEC meeting.US Department of Energy analyses seen by Newsnight show that at $50 a barrelVenezuela -- not Saudi Arabia -- will have the biggest oil reserves in OPEC.Venezuela has vast deposits of extra heavy oil in the Orinoco. Traditionallythese have not been counted because at $20 a barrel they were too expensiveto exploit -- but at $50 a barrel melting them into liquid petroleum becomesextremely profitable.The US DoE report shows that at today's prices Venezuela's oil reserves arebigger than those of the entire Middle East including Saudi Arabia, the Gulfstates, Iran and Iraq. The US DoE also identifies Canada as another futureoil superpower. Venezuela's deposits alone could extend the oil age foranother 100 years. The US DoE estimates that Chavez controls 1.3 trillion barrels of oil --more than the entire declared oil reserves of the rest of the planet. HugoChavez told Newsnight's Greg Palast that "Venezuela has the largest oilreserves in the world. In the future Venezuela won't have any more oil --but that's in the 22nd century. Venezuela has oil for 200 years." Chavezwill ask the OPEC meeting in June to formally accept that Venezuela'sreserves are now bigger than Saudi Arabia's.Chavez's increased muscle will not go down well in Washington. In 2002 theBush administration welcomed an attempted coup against Chavez. He toldNewsnight that the Americans had organised it in an attempt to get hold ofVenezuela's oil. Ironically by invading Iraq George Bush has boosted oil prices andeffectively transferred billions of dollars from American consumers toChavez. Up to $200 million a day -- half of it from the US -- is floodinginto Caracas. Chavez is spending this on building infrastructure andincreasing the minimum wage and improving health and education in the poorranchos which surround the cities. As a result even his opponents acceptthat Chavez is extremely popular and will easily win the next Presidentialelection in December.Chavez is also spending billions in the rest of Latin America -- exchangingcontracts for oil tankers and infrastructure projects and buying up loans inArgentina and Brazil. He has made cheap oil deals with Ecuador and theCaribbean. He has also spent some of the dollars which have come in from the USsupporting Fidel Castro in Cuba. In return Cuba has supplied the thousandsof doctors and teachers who are transforming conditions in the barrios ofCaracas. Washington accuses Chavez of buying influence in Latin America.The Newsnight team had to endure the long speeches and marathon six hour TVshows which Hugo Chavez delights in. Chavez posed for Newsnight posing withthe sword of Simon Bolivar the 18th century liberator who drove out Spanishimperialists from South America. The symbolism was clear but behind theshowman is a clever political brain.Chavez has not invaded any foreign countries. He does not have secretprisons at home or abroad. Chavez has repeatedly won democratic electionsand the opposition operates freely although some members have been chargedwith accepting illegal foreign donations. Nonetheless George Bush'sadministration repeatedly targets Chavez on human rights and finances hisopponents. Earlier this year US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld compared Chavez toHitler - because he was elected democratically -- and last year theinfluential American evangelist Pat Robertson called for his assassination.Robertson later apologized and said that he did not "necessarily" have to bekilled so long as he was kidnapped by American special forces.Chavez told Newsnight that he was still concerned that George Bush had notlearnt the lessons of Iraq and would order an invasion to try to secureVenezuela's oil. "I pray this will not happen because US soldiers will bitethe dust and so will we, Venezuelans". He warned that any such attempt wouldlead to a prolonged guerilla war and an end to oil production. "The USpeople should know there will be no oil for anyone".Chavez does not accept Tony Blair's criticism of him for lining up withFidel Castro. He told Newsnight "if someone is sleeping together it is Bushand Blair. They share the same bed."