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Caribbean-Latin America

Venezuela's oil minister: We're to cut off oil to US if necessary

2008-02-13

Venezuela is ready to cut off oil supplies to the United States if pressed into an "economic war," the country's oil minister said in an interview published Tuesday, echoing a threat by President Hugo Chavez.

Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told the Venezuelan newspaper Ultimas Noticias that "we're ready" to cut off oil shipments to the United States - a threat that apparently could be triggered if Exxon Mobil Corp. succeeds in seizing billions of dollars (euros) in Venezuelan assets though lawsuits abroad.

Chavez first made the threat Sunday in response to a drive by Exxon Mobil to seize Venezuelan assets through US and European courts in a dispute over the nationalization of lucrative oil ventures in Venezuela.

Posted by:Fred

#11 We found a huge reserve of natural gas under the Appalachian mountains.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080204/ap_on_bi_ge/natural_gas_bonanza_4

Let him suck on his oil.

Posted by: crosspatch 2008-02-13 22:37

#10 chavez is behond citgo

Posted by: sinse 2008-02-13 15:06

#9 Who's behind Citgo? Joe Kennedy.

Posted by: jds 2008-02-13 13:08

#8 As with Lukoil, if most Americans knew who's behind the name, Citgo's sales would plummet.

Posted by: Darrell 2008-02-13 12:19

#7 lets just go ahead and turn those citgos' into mexican restaraunts

Posted by: sinse 2008-02-13 10:12

#6 hugos economic war is funding Shorts in our markets and paying mouthpieces to sell doom and gloom, its a soros script inherited by those who want chaos to prevail.

so, since venezuela is the beneficiary of natural resources, it has always relied on the Intellectual property of the US to convert its natural resources to something folks might want.

the bobo administration is puffed up knowing the current wars being waged on wall street are being funded by the lefts big money.

buy the dips.

Posted by: Spiny Gl 2511 2008-02-13 08:23

#5 Goes like this ... there are 100 marbles on the planet ... we buy 10 of them from Venezuela. If they sell them to someone else, that frees up 10 marbles that someone else was going to sell for us to buy.

Except China will use all their Walmart Dollars to bid the price up of those remaining 90 marbles. And we've made it possible. Why do you think the Chinese are making so many deals worldwide for drilling and other oil sources? It's not the same market it was a decade ago. The Chinese are not only looking at today's stock, but years out. The market is more driven by capacity because of that new big demand.

Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-02-13 07:45

#4 But it is fungible, (more or less). I suppose our refineries could handle cleaner crude without difficulty? If so, Hugo would be cutting off his nose to spite his face.

Posted by: Bobby 2008-02-13 06:29

#3 Let's remember that most of Venezuela's oil needs special refineries, that for now all teh refineries who can refine it are in the US, that Venezuela suffers of an accute food shortage and that oil is not edible.

Posted by: JFM 2008-02-13 05:07

#2 Not a problem at all. If they cut us off they have to sell the oil to someone else. We then buy the oil that someone else was going to buy someplace else but didn't.

Goes like this ... there are 100 marbles on the planet ... we buy 10 of them from Venezuela. If they sell them to someone else, that frees up 10 marbles that someone else was going to sell for us to buy.

In other words, it makes a great news story but it doesn't work in real life.

Posted by: crosspatch 2008-02-13 01:38

#1 Go ahead, make my day, punk!

Threat my ass, you puffed up bufoons.

Canucks, Mexico and Kuwait, Quatar, UAE would be keen to make up for the difference wih a better quality crude.

Posted by: twobyfour 2008-02-13 01:10

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