Put a Cork in His Mouth

Venezuela's Chavez says oil could reach $300 | Reuters
Venezuela's Chavez says oil could reach $300

Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:57am BST


MARACAIBO, July 13 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday oil prices could hit $300 per barrel if U.S. oil company Exxon Mobil again freezes Venezuelan assets in a dispute over a nationalized oil project.
Exxon (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) won court orders freezing $12 billion in assets held by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA after the OPEC nation took over a multi-billion dollar oil project, heightening tensions with the United States and helping to raise oil prices.
A London court later overturned Exxon's temporary asset freeze, but Chavez said the company could seek further action against Venezuela.
"If they freeze us there will be no more oil for the United States, and the price will go to $300," Chavez said during a televised meeting with Caribbean and Central American leaders as part of an energy cooperation scheme called Petrocaribe.
Chavez also said oil prices were being influenced by a "speculative bubble", the collapse of which could send prices as low as $70 per barrel.
This contrasted with his Saturday statements that geopolitical tensions, particularly the threat of an invasion against Iran, could push oil prices to $200 per barrel.
"Years ago I said oil was going to go to $100 per barrel, now it looks like it is headed toward $200," he said. (Reporting by Manuel Hernandez, writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Toni Reinhold)

If there is no Venezuelan oil for the United States, Venezuela will suffer even more than the United States. There are five refineries in the United States specifically tooled to process Venezuela's variety of heavy crude oil; no other countries are similarly equipped.

hmmm i got one question. about how big is venezuela compared to say... an atomic nuclear weapon?

Can we relocate Chavez to iran and then let the Israelis loose at the same time?

I'm just annoyed that sooner or later, Venezuelans' idiotic escapade into Chavez' communism and populism will lead to them needing us to bail them out.

I really, really resent that we cannot afford to just let them starve, once their system inevitably fails. Chavez is what Venezuelans' elected. They should be allowed to pay the "stupid tax" themselves when his policies fail.