-Venezuela has suspended supplying the Dominican Republic with oil under the San Jose accord. According to the Minister of Energy and Mines: “We will not allow our oil to finance terrorism, as is happening right here in Venezuela”. This all refers to the “plot” to overthrow Chavez by former President Carlos Andres Perrez with the collaboration of the President of the Dominican Republic, something for which we have seen no evidence. But I wonder if our esteemed Minister of Energy Ramirez has mush for a brain and forgot that we provide Cuba with 2.5% of the country’s daily oil production, financed at a 4% rate for fifteen years. Is he also going to cut that off? Or is he so stupid that he can not distinguish from any terrorism and what Fidel Castro does every day here, there and in his own country?
-The Venezuelan Government announced that it will not recognize the Iraqi representative at the upcoming OPEC meeting. All Arab countries will recognize it, which goes to show what I have always said: Why are we members of OPEC? We do not understand our partners, they are our competitors and they really limit the sovereignty of our country.
-The Minister of Energy and Mines announced that the oil field Tomoporo will be opened for bids from foreign companies to operate it. This field is the most promising discovered in decades and is expected to produce half a million barrels of oil a day by 2010. Clearly this “nationalistic” Government has the idea of running an oil industry under the “toll booth” concept in which the Government charges a tax and foreigners run the operation. How nationalistic, no?
-Oil production Figures: The Government says we are producing 3.2 million barrels of oil a day, above the OPEC quota of 2.95 barrels of oil per day. However, other sources say:
OPEC: 2.57 million barrels of oil a day.
International Energy Agency: 2.25 million barrels of oil a day.
Energy Information Administration: 2.35 millions of barrels of oil a day
Gente del Petroleo: 2.61 millions of barrels of oil a day
Interesting how those fired from the oil industry provide the most optimistic picture, no?