Highlights:
He’s hiking taxes and royalties on the international giants, even as he strengthens the hand of OPEC and state-owned energy companies around the world. What’s more, Chavez has threatened to shut the spigot if the Bush administration challenges his grip on power in Caracas.
And while the Robertson-Chavez exchange was portrayed as a dustup between crackpots from opposite ends of the spectrum, Chavez is a smart, canny operator—and his hunger for both petrodollars and petro-power is something America needs to take very seriously.
Through higher taxes and royalties, all foreign oil companies are being forced to turn over a bigger share of their profits to the government in order to fund Chavez’s new social programs. “We are working on becoming a tool for the state to recover its sovereignty,” Ramírez explains. “When the private companies have control over production, it’s impossible to conduct your own national oil policy.”
PDVSA is no longer just an oil company—it’s the engine of the Chavez revolution. After being crippled by an anti-Chavez strike in 2003 that resulted in the firing of more than 18,000 workers, PDVSA says it is on track to generate revenues of $75 billion this year.
Personal Exception – It is larger than the administration. Chavez is a catalyst for good change; the bringer of change, but it does not reside in him alone.
Like all skilled actors and politicians, Ramírez and Chavez are keenly aware of their audience. They walk a fine line, alternately assuring Americans that Venezuela will continue to supply El Norte with 1.6 million barrels of crude a day and telling Venezuelans that they will cut America’s energy lifeline if the Bush administration makes any hostile moves against Caracas.
Which leads us to this:
Chavez: Venezuela moves reserves to Europe
SEP. 30 1:50 P.M. ET Venezuela has moved its central bank foreign reserves out of U.S. banks, liquidated its investments in U.S. Treasury securities and placed the funds in Europe, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday.
"We've had to move the international reserves from U.S. banks because of the threats," from the U.S., Chavez said during televised remarks from a South American summit in Brazil.
"The reserves we had (invested) in U.S. Treasury bonds, we've sold them and we moved them to Europe and other countries," he said.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/f...me_down&
chan=db
Could this be seen as retaliation for Posada verdict? Honestly I don’t know, leaning towards not BUT, Interesting to see what others might see in this action and if it might signifiy Chavez’ willingness to pull the trigger if need be.
Great article.
Would Venezuela have been able to negotiate similar smart terms as Chavez et al have?
No way, the opposition would be "giving" the oil to gringo Sam on a silver plate.
It takes a Bolivarian to light a fire under these oligarch's asses. Take, for instance, Energy Minister Ramirez.
The oppostion doesnt' have anyone with the fortitude to stand up to the US-backed oil giants.
This part of the article was great:
"In a rare interview in his spacious Caracas office—which features an impossible-to-miss portrait of Chavez—Ramírez lays out for FORTUNE his plan to bend Venezuela’s oil industry to Chavez’s socialist vision and change the balance of power between oil-producing countries and private companies. He may be dressed in a conservative dark suit and tie, but Ramírez is an agitator of the highest order on subjects like how to extract more money from Big Oil. He is tightening his grip on U.S. giants like Exxon Mobil and Chevron as well as European players such as Shell and Total."
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Now this is what it's all about--getting the best terms and investing the wealth into the people of the nation.
SR.
Indeed. The vendepatrias who ran things before never saw a sweetheart deal they didn't like.
And why do you think they were trying to UNDERMINE OPEC? How could that be in Venezuela's interest? Answer is it wasn't. But it was interest of the oil exectives and contractors to produce as much oil as possible not because it would maximize revenues for Venezuela - it wouldn't - but because it would maximize monies for THEM. Oil policy was run to benefit the top employees of PDVSA and its contractors - not to benefit the owners of PDVSA, the Venezuelan people.
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