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Caribbean-Latin America
Chavez: Make Yankee Imperialists Pay!
2006-06-02
CARACAS, Venezuela, June 1 — OPEC rejected calls from its host to lower production quotas in its meeting here on Thursday, but that did not prevent President Hugo Chávez from seeking to invigorate the 11-country group by appealing to oil-rich countries in Africa and South America to become members.

In a speech lasting one and a half hours, Mr. Chávez also called for OPEC to consider $50 as its floor price for a barrel of oil. Mr. Chávez peppered his talk with references to Venezuela's role in pushing for nationalistic policies within OPEC in the 1960's, and to Frantz Fanon's "Wretched of the Earth," a book about colonial subjugation in North Africa. "If we talk of a price band, then the floor should be $50," said Mr. Chávez, "and the roof of the band should be infinite."

International energy markets, accustomed to such whacko bold announcements from Mr. Chávez and other Venezuelan officials, reacted calmly. Crude oil for July delivery fell 95 cents, to $70.34 a barrel in New York.
Posted by:DanNY

#16  PIMF
Posted by: ed   2006-06-02 12:23  

#15  The only way oil producers will not increase production is if they can't physically produce more.
Or if they wish to hurt consuming nations, specifically one that's very pissed off at certain OPEC members of a beturbanned persuasion.
Posted by: ed   2006-06-02 12:22  

#14  How much fuel does a barrel of oil make anyway?
Products Made from a Barrel of Crude Oil
A 42-U.S. gallon barrel of crude oil provides slightly more than 44 gallons of petroleum products. ... One barrel of crude oil, when refined, produces about 20 gallons of finished motor gasoline, and 7 gallons of diesel, as well as other petroleum products.

The sweeter the crude, the more gasoline that can be made w/o expensive cracking.


Posted by: ed   2006-06-02 12:18  

#13  Chavez's suggestion for lower output is sheer fantasy. The governments of the Third World countries that produce oil are like governments everywhere else, except they're more spendthrift, more corrupt and more short-sighted. Every dollar of oil revenue generated is going to be earmarked for white elephant projects, graft and social spending. At this point, they're probably trying to *increase* oil production in order to make up for underestimating the costs of their misbegotten spending plans. And if they're successful, we will see a repeat of the mid-1980's glut. Which is why the big American oil producers aren't rushing to buy expensive oil reserves. The only way oil producers will not increase production is if they can't physically produce more.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2006-06-02 12:16  

#12  Mike, Rentech did a study for the Gov of Wyoming on Powder River Basin coal to liquid fuel (i.e. high quality diesel) conversion using the Fischer-Tropsch process. Rentech study (1.3MB PDF). The revelent graph is on pg 60, where for a 20,000 barrel/day plant, the cost came out to be $35/barrel. Larger plants cost less. Lower costs even more if producing power and ammonium-nitrate (e.g. $29/barrel equivalent).
It takes about 3/4 ton to make a 42 gallon barrell of fuel. Even if coal is $10/ton, then add $4 to the price.

There are even cheaper sources of oil: Alberta Tar Sands
The Alberta boom is made possible by the recent rise in oil prices to $67 a barrel. Tar sands production for many years had been considered cost-effective at $23 a barrel, and with improvements in exploration and extraction technologies, the price tipping point has fallen into the mid-teens, officials here say.
I assume these are US $ figures, not Canadian.
Posted by: ed   2006-06-02 12:07  

#11  Â“OPEC Rejects Output Cuts Requested by VenezuelaÂ…Crude oil for July delivery fell 95 cents.”

Don’t get discouraged Hugo, at least you got your headline for the week. Just be careful though, when you start to become a feature at “News of the Weird” a peasant revolt might be right around the corner.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2006-06-02 11:20  

#10  Damn! No wonder my Miata runs so crappy on Citgo gas.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-06-02 11:12  

#9  Hugo's oil is great...for asphalt. Not so good for gasoline. It's like tar-oil, and a lot of refineries arent set up to handle a mix that produces that much heavy distilate. I guess you could just keep cracking it, but if you put that much enery into making the light distilate you havent really bought yourself anything.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2006-06-02 11:01  

#8  Ed, do tell about that $35 a barrel. Is that an oil barrels worth of fuel? (How much fuel does a barrel of oil make anyway?, How big IS a barrel?) or is that a barrel of fuel?
Posted by: Mike N.   2006-06-02 10:53  

#7  We can make all the synfuels we want for about $35/barrel. Putting up with this Racist Amerindian Supremist is purely a function of our leadership's shortsightedness and passivity in the face of evil.
Posted by: ed   2006-06-02 10:39  

#6  Switch to decaff Chavez.

Posted by: DarthVader   2006-06-02 10:31  

#5  All Hugos buddies are pumping every last bbl they can and trying to add production, meanwhile his production is falling and his bbl of s**t goes for much less than real oil. Russia gonna own him in about 10 years.
Posted by: 6   2006-06-02 09:23  

#4  Any way we can photoshop more sprockets onto Hugo's official portrait when he faces down the Yankee dogs and the Evil Boosh? Maybe we could get so many on there, he'd tip over...
Posted by: tu3031   2006-06-02 09:13  

#3  All you have to know about the Dems is that a scumbag like Hugo wants them in power. Wake the f*ck up America.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-06-02 08:47  

#2  The "Organization of Peace Exporting Countries" is priceless; I wonder if it's just for show, or if he somehow is a True Believer?
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-06-02 08:23  

#1  Chavez wants other OPEC members to produce less because he can't produce any more, and is actually producing less and less, having driven out foreign investment in the development of new production with his nationalization of Venezuela's rapidly depleting oil assets.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2006-06-02 08:13  

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