If you thought high oil prices were just a blip think again

[1prophet]

Chavez rules out return to cheap oil

From article:

"We're trying to find an equilibrium. The price of oil could remain at the low level of $50. That's a fair price it's not a high price," Mr Chavez said.

He will have added clout at this Opec meeting.

Analysis by the US Department of Energy (DoE) - seen by Newsnight - shows that at $50 a barrel Venezuela - not Saudi Arabia - will have the biggest oil reserves in Opec.

Venezuela has vast deposits of extra-heavy oil in the Orinoco. Traditionally these have not been counted because at $20 a barrel they were too expensive to exploit - but at $50 a barrel melting them into liquid petroleum becomes extremely profitable.

The DoE report shows that at today's prices Venezuela's oil reserves are bigger than those of the entire Middle East - including Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Iran and Iraq.


In the future Venezuela won't have any more oil - but that's in the 22nd Century
Hugo Chavez

The US agency also identifies Canada as another future oil superpower.
Venezuela's deposits alone could extend the oil age for another 100 years.

The DoE estimates that the Venezuelan government controls 1.3 trillion barrels of oil - more than the entire declared oil reserves of the rest of the planet.

Mr Chavez told Newsnight that "Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world. In the future Venezuela won't have any more oil - but that's in the 22nd Century."

He will ask the Opec meeting in June to formally accept that Venezuela's reserves are now bigger than Saudi Arabia's.

Wow, why are we wasting our time in the middle east?😛

 

[conjur]

Venezuela's oil is a heavier crude. The majority of refineries in the US use light, sweet crude.

 

[dahunan]

I don't care what they use.. I will bet they are in collusion .. with the prices I have seen.. regular 87 unleaded is already showing up at 2.48 here .. Just one month ago it was 2.20

 

[1prophet]

Originally posted by: dahunan
I don't care what they use.. I will bet they are in collusion .. with the prices I have seen.. regular 87 unleaded is already showing up at 2.48 here .. Just one month ago it was 2.20

Maybe you are right.😉

From article:

Mr Chavez's increased muscle will not go down well in Washington, which is deeply opposed to his government.

Ironically, by invading Iraq, George W Bush has boosted oil prices and effectively transferred billions of dollars from American consumers to the Venezuelan government.



Up to $200m a day - half of it from the US - is flooding into Caracas.

Mr Chavez is spending this on building infrastructure and increasing the minimum wage and improving health and education in the poor ranchos which surround the cities.

As a result even his opponents accept that Mr Chavez is extremely popular and will easily win the next presidential election in December.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: conjur
Venezuela's oil is a heavier crude. The majority of refineries in the US use light, sweet crude.

But most of that sour Venezuelan crude is refined in the US (hence one major reason PVDSA purchased Citgo) and the Virgin Islands. This is principally because we have the most capacity to handle the high sulfur crude. We also import similar grades of crude from Mexico. The proximity of the US to Venezuela also cuts transportation costs.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: dahunan
I don't care what they use.. I will bet they are in collusion .. with the prices I have seen.. regular 87 unleaded is already showing up at 2.48 here .. Just one month ago it was 2.20

Well, we were down to $1.98 just over a month ago. Average here in town is now about $2.65.

But, Chavez just took over two oilfields (I think one was run by an Italian company, forget the other one). He'll end up nationalizing the whole thing and booting all the oil companies out. The rhetoric will surely heat up against him again.

 

[conjur]

Hmm...Chavez bulking up, via oil profits, against imperialistic ideals of the US

Gee, imagine that. Using oil profits to benefit people. What's Exxon done with their tens of billions in profit?

 

[Strk]

We actually have more, but it's a matter of how much of the earth you want to leave behind to get it.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: conjur
Venezuela's oil is a heavier crude. The majority of refineries in the US use light, sweet crude.

But that is changing. Valero is the largest refinary in the US and most of its refinaries are capable of dealing with the heavy stuff, they are making a killing because of the price premium on the light/sweet stuff.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: conjur
Hmm...Chavez bulking up, via oil profits, against imperialistic ideals of the US

Gee, imagine that. Using oil profits to benefit people. What's Exxon done with their tens of billions in profit?

Yes just another company that is gouging the consumer so it can make a 10% profit.:roll:

 

[alchemize]

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: conjur
Hmm...Chavez bulking up, via oil profits, against imperialistic ideals of the US

Gee, imagine that. Using oil profits to benefit people. What's Exxon done with their tens of billions in profit?

Yes just another economy that is gouging the consumer so it can make a 10% profit.:roll:

Who cares if their hero is a dictator, eh? He gives some money to poor people!

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: conjur
Venezuela's oil is a heavier crude. The majority of refineries in the US use light, sweet crude.

But that is changing. Valero is the largest refinary in the US and most of its refinaries are capable of dealing with the heav premium on the light/sweet stuff.

Obviously, refining capacity has suffered from American NIMBYism and too cozy relationship with Middle East suppliers (primarily SA).

What I don't understand is that if we are willing to tolerate (if not embrace) dictatorships and oligarchs in Africa and Asia . . . what's the big deal with a socialist populist megalomaniac?

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: conjur
Hmm...Chavez bulking up, via oil profits, against imperialistic ideals of the US

Gee, imagine that. Using oil profits to benefit people. What's Exxon done with their tens of billions in profit?

Invest in development, pay dividends to their shareholders, shore up cash reseves in case unfavorable market conditions appear, aquire resources/companies that can enhance their business.....

Most of the things thousands of other companies do daily across the globe.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: conjur
Hmm...Chavez bulking up, via oil profits, against imperialistic ideals of the US

Gee, imagine that. Using oil profits to benefit people. What's Exxon done with their tens of billions in profit?

Invest in development, pay dividends to their shareholders, shore up cash reseves in case unfavorable market conditions appear, aquire resources/companies that can enhance their business.....

Most of the things thousands of other companies do daily across the globe.

You forgot they also employ tens of thousands with good paying jobs.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: conjur
Venezuela's oil is a heavier crude. The majority of refineries in the US use light, sweet crude.

But that is changing. Valero is the largest refinary in the US and most of its refinaries are capable of dealing with the heav premium on the light/sweet stuff.

Obviously, refining capacity has suffered from American NIMBYism and too cozy relationship with Middle East suppliers (primarily SA).

What I don't understand is that if we are willing to tolerate (if not embrace) dictatorships and oligarchs in Africa and Asia . . . what's the big deal with a socialist populist megalomaniac?

This will probably surprised you, but I am not sure how big of a factor that is. It is true no new refinaries have been built in a couple of decades, but there has been massive consolidation in the industry during that time. New refineries have not been built, but the ones that do exist have been expanded.

 

[1prophet]

Originally posted by: conjur
Hmm...Chavez bulking up, via oil profits, against imperialistic ideals of the US

Gee, imagine that. Using oil profits to benefit people. What's Exxon done with their tens of billions in profit?

From article above:

Critics who have questioned Venezuela's spending are roundly denounced by the government, which says its focus remains on providing for Venezuela's poor. Indeed, Venezuela plans this year to deposit $10 billion into a fund for social programs, Mr. Chávez said in February, up from $8 billion in 2005.

The programs, government officials contend, have helped reduce poverty to below 30 percent of the population. Social scientists in Venezuela dispute the claim, saying that poverty still hovers at well over 50 percent, and that half of Venezuelans work in the underground economy, selling trinkets or offering services and barely making ends meet.

Whatever the truth, polls show that Venezuelans, even those who strongly support Mr. Chávez, are increasingly concerned about the spending abroad.

While the president enjoys the support of a majority of Venezuelans, polls by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, a Washington polling company that has worked for Venezuela's opposition movement, show that fewer than 30 percent of Venezuelans believe the country should spend its oil revenue abroad.

Even in Mr. Chávez's strongholds like Catia, a tumbledown neighborhood in western Caracas, it is not hard to find those concerned about the foreign spending, even if they support the government.

"They should first take care of their own house before taking care of others," said Benjamín Delgado, 71, a retiree who otherwise backs the government. "I think Chávez does it so he seems bigger. He wants to be seen as an international leader. There are many things about him I support. Giving away money for exactly nothing, I don't like that."

This older gentlemen who supports Chavez points out something very troubling that we do here alot, You don't go feeding other peoples children while your own are hungry.