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Caribbean-Latin America
US to switch oil providers if Venezuela cuts supplies: US Ambassador
2005-03-06
The United States will buy crude from another country if Venezuela follows through on President Hugo Chavez's threat to cut off supplies, the US ambassador to Caracas said in interviews with local media.
This is the blessing I have been waiting from to get rid of that asshole!!!!
Why don't we start now? Why wait for Hugo to do something stoopid?
Venezuela supplies the US market with 1.5 million barrels of crude a day -- about 15 percent of its crude needs, or nearly as much as Saudi Arabia supplies to the United States. Chavez has threatened to cut off that supply if there is any US "aggression," such as a military invasion or an attempt on his life. "If the United States does not buy oil from Venezuela, it will buy it from another country," US Ambassador William Brownfield said in an interview with Globovision television news. He gave a similar assessment in interviews with local newspapers that were published on Saturday.

Chavez, traveling in India , renewed charges on Saturday that Washington was trying to kill him. "There is in the US ... a plan to assassinate me," Chavez said in New Delhi, where he signed a major oil agreement under which India will take a 49 percent stake in a Venezuelan oil field. "If anything happens to me, the responsibility will be with the president of the United States (George W. Bush)," said Chavez, on the second day of a four-day visit to India . The leftist-populist president has warned that any bid to kill him would result in the halting of Venezuela's oil shipments to the United States. In Caracas, Brownfield acknowledged that a suspension of Venezuelan imports would initially "distort" the US economy, but dismissed it as a minor blip. "In the end, a free market can accommodate such a distortion," he said. Washington wants to maintain its current relationship with Caracas, Brownfield said, adding that the White House is "analyzing options" in the event that there is a cut in supplies. Venezuela is the lone South American member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
"Okay, Dick. What are our options in the event there's a cut in Venezuelan oil supplies?"
"Well, we can kill him. We can arrest him. Or we can accomodate him. Or we can ignore it."
"What're the odds on each?"
"I'd say 60, 40, 0 and 0. What do you think, George?"
"I'd say more like 70, 30, 0 and 0."
Posted by:TMH

#28  Everyone needs to say a great big Fuck Thank You to Jimmy Carter for endorsing this hooligan and thug, and propping him up.

Next time, shoot Jimmy before he does more harm. North Korea, Cuba, Venzuela...
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-03-06 5:26:16 PM  

#27  Everyone needs to say a great big Fuck Thank You to Jimmy Carter for endorsing this hooligan and thug, and propping him up.

Next time, shoot Jimmy before he does more harm. North Korea, Cuba, Venzuela...
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-03-06 5:26:16 PM  

#26  TMH's article: India’s sole private refiner, Reliance Industries has imported Venezuelan crude in recent years but state-run firms have not processed oil from the country.

They're going to ship something halfway around the world that by weight, costs about the same as mineral water. There's a reason why oil producers tend to sell oil to countries that are close to them. Chavez will get less for Venezuela's oil. Uncle Sam will pay a little more to get oil from further away. On balance, Uncle Sam's additional cost will probably be about the same as Venezuela's reduction in revenue. Who do you think is in a better position to take the hit - the US or the Venezuelan economy?
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-03-06 11:54:48 PM  

#25  I was thinking more along the lines of a specially fitted casing, and dropping him from whatever altitude the B-2 flies way up there at. And while there won't be a parachute, there would be a laser guidence system so we can ensure he lands right where he's supposed to...through the bedroom window of the Revolutionary Guard leader.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2005-03-06 11:07:03 PM  

#24  Directional Drilling is big stuff around the Midway Sunset field right here where I live badanov.

That heavy crude is not a popular type of oil and doesn't command the top price either. Those per bbl prices are for light sweet not heavy sour skanky oil.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2005-03-06 11:00:05 PM  

#23  Ship - Re #14... think Billy Sol Estes, lol!
Posted by: .com   2005-03-06 10:53:34 PM  

#22  From thirty thousand feet, Silentbrick? Pretty please! And as he is one of God's chosen, at least according to his own assessment, I'm sure he won't want a parachute. The angels will guide his feet where they should go, y'know.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-03-06 10:48:03 PM  

#21  So how about we give Jimmy to Iran Old Spook? I'm sure he's a big hero to them over there and they'll be happy to take him...course, I was thinking an involuntary covert insertion for him since I don't think we want to give him the choice.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2005-03-06 8:41:17 PM  

#20  Don't forget Iran, Oldspook.
Posted by: ed   2005-03-06 6:04:37 PM  

#19  thisn gotta have chainey creemin him pants
Posted by: muck4doo   2005-03-06 6:01:25 PM  

#18  "Hugo's new friends in China better get busy retooling some refineries.."

I do not know if China is doing it but India is!
"On Friday, Aiyar said India would also offer Venezuela equity in Mangarlore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), the refining subsidiary of ONGC.
........India’s sole private refiner, Reliance Industries has imported Venezuelan crude in recent years but state-run firms have not processed oil from the country. Aiyar said MRPL’s refinery could process Venezuelan crude and other oil firms were assessing which grades of oil from the country they could refine. "

http://in.news.yahoo.com/050305/137/2jzwk.html
Posted by: TMH   2005-03-06 5:39:55 PM  

#17  Everyone needs to say a great big Fuck Thank You to Jimmy Carter for endorsing this hooligan and thug, and propping him up.

Next time, shoot Jimmy before he does more harm. North Korea, Cuba, Venzuela...
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-03-06 5:26:16 PM  

#16  OP---We have a stainless fabricator and panel shop up here that makes solar-powered wellhead controls for BP Colombia's oil fields. I've nicknamed them the Medienne Control system, heh heh. They are pretty robust units, but about 7 of them have taken serious bullet hits. Oh, well, just fire up the production line again....
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-03-06 4:24:43 PM  

#15  Old Patriot:

Around Hennessey, Oklahoma, several companies have been working on that process since before 1995. There are other places in Oklahoma as well, but that it the one the pipeyard I was threading pipe for was into supplying.
Posted by: badanov   2005-03-06 3:17:34 PM  

#14  Good idea OP, there's a lot of historical knowledge and knowhow in directional drlling. There's a reason Arkansas never became a rich oil producing centre.... Texans. :)
Posted by: Shipman   2005-03-06 3:14:08 PM  

#13  Just stop shopping at Citgo, and see how fast Hugo sinks into the sunset. A friend of mine was telling me about a new injection process that can be used here at home to "revive" several sluggish or non-producing fields. It's only competetive when oil's over $45 a barrel at the moment, but that may change. We might want to help Colombia out, both with its guerilla problem and with its oil program. With directional drilling, I'm sure we can tap a few good fields...
Posted by: Old Patriot   2005-03-06 2:12:46 PM  

#12  Hugo's new friends in China better get busy retooling some refineries

especially if they wanna meet their Kyoto quota.....oh, wait....shit
Posted by: Frank G   2005-03-06 2:11:50 PM  

#11  Thanks for the clarification ZF. Hugo's new friends in China better get busy retooling some refineries.
Posted by: Classical_Liberal   2005-03-06 1:22:11 PM  

#10  North Slope, CF. It will take some time to get it literally into the pipeline. The crime of it all is that the so-called environmentalists have been making it a big emotional issue and have stalled the legislation for years.

As far as Hugo the Crude goes, he needs the cash flow to keep his gig going. If his economy goes down, people will be pissed off and will eventually deal with him.

We need to get out of the blatant olde CIA manipulation mode. Not that we would not give covert help to groups that could take back their country. I am sure that we are giving some kind of assistance to pro-democracy types in Lebanon. We need to assist other groups like that in Venezuela. Let them do the heavy lifting. Sorta taking the high ground, if you get my drift. Goes along with President Bush's Inauguration speech theme.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-03-06 1:08:53 PM  

#9  I say its time to open the North Shore fields of Alaska and tell the environuts to go f themselves.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2005-03-06 12:57:25 PM  

#8  CL: I thought the issue was that they have funky high sulfur crude and that we have the refineries set up to deal with. That binds us whether we like it our not.

No - it binds *Venezuela*. Our refineries can deal with the good stuff and the crap (Venezuela's product). Foreign refineries cannot deal with Venezuela's low grade stuff - yet.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-03-06 12:53:09 PM  

#7  I thought the issue was that they have funky high sulfur crude and that we have the refineries set up to deal with. That binds us whether we like it our not.
Posted by: Classical_Liberal   2005-03-06 12:45:15 PM  

#6  Someone will buy his oil, but that means other oil which the buyer would have bought becomes available for American companies to procure. Its all a movement on paper. But enough to scare idiots to drive prices up [of course faster than they ever come down with the same spot prices]. Regardless of what Hugo does, the refinery capacity of the US is still a fixed ceiling which hasn't changed for over a decade.
Posted by: Cleamp Ebbereling9442   2005-03-06 11:32:52 AM  

#5  I agree,killing him might stir up more of a hornets nest, we should stop buying his oil though, Citgo is Venezualen.
Posted by: Crorong Gramble7118   2005-03-06 11:31:39 AM  

#4  fine....you take away all our fun...dammit
Posted by: Frank G   2005-03-06 11:25:35 AM  

#3  You do not want to make a martyr out of this asshole by killing him. By looking for other providers, the US will put a serious dent in his budget. The useless social programs and subsidies that up to now have kept him in power will be cut down or eliminated all together.
Hugo can still sell his oil but at a huge discount, not enough to keep his propaganda machine well oiled.
Posted by: TMH   2005-03-06 11:23:09 AM  

#2  "There is in the US ... a plan to assassinate me,"

A plan? That's gotta be Kerry; he had lots of plans a few months ago. Bush and Rove are more into insidious plots and nefarious schemes.
Posted by: Raj   2005-03-06 11:20:14 AM  

#1  well start on the other sourcing now, then remind El Presidente that there's now no reason not to put the target on his back. Kill him
Posted by: Frank G   2005-03-06 11:08:57 AM  

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