Revolution Delayed

Ever seen a tinpot dictator backpedal? Oil is below $40 a barrel, and Hugo's up for reelection soon, so he's trying to woo back the capitalist swine oil exploiters he's been abusing in an ongoing fit of revolutionary zeal:

CARACAS: President Hugo Chávez, buffeted by falling oil prices that threaten to damage his efforts to establish a Socialist-inspired state, is quietly courting Western oil companies once again.

Until recently, Chávez had pushed foreign oil companies here into a corner by nationalizing their oil fields, raiding their offices with tax authorities and imposing a series of royalties increases.

Why is he crawling back, tail between his legs like the dog that he is? Because he's spent his nation's money on socialist pipe dreams that haven't done anything to improve the lot of the poor. (Are you paying attention, congress?)

Nationalizations in other sectors, like agriculture and steel manufacturing, are fueling capital flight, leaving Venezuela reliant on oil for about 93 percent of its export revenue in 2008, up from 69 percent in 1998 when Chávez was first elected.

Also, although rich in known oil deposits, Venezuelan oil production has steadily decreased because Fidelito didn't invest in his crumbling petroleum infrastructure.

But all the while, Petróleos de Venezuela has faced its own difficulties. It claimed it produced about 3.3 million barrels a day throughout most of 2008. But other sources like OPEC, of which Venezuela is a member, place the figure closer to 2.3 million and show a fall of about 100,000 barrels a day from a year earlier. When Chávez rose to power a decade ago, Venezuela was producing about 3.4 million barrels a day.

Revolution delayed is revolution denied.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/15/america/15venez.php

Vlad and Hugo Hit an Oil Slick

Oh, the many benefit of cheap oil...

Vlad the Impaler can't be happy:

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia would come under crippling financial pressure and may need to raise money externally if oil languishes at an average of $30 a barrel over the next two years, the World Bank predicted Friday.

The bleak scenario would mark a rapid unraveling of Russia's oil-fueled economic gains over the past eight years, during which time the government has paid down most of its foreign debt and built up a vast stockpile of international reserves.

Fidelito Chavez of Venezuela is now in a big hole. He blew the oil profits on buying friends instead of upgrading infrastructure. This is from The Telegraph back in October:

The state oil company, PDVSA, produced 3.2 million barrels per day in 1998, the year before Mr Chavez won the presidency. After a decade of rising corruption and inefficiency, daily output has now fallen to 2.4 million barrels, according to OPEC figures. About half of this oil is now delivered at a discount to Mr Chavez's friends around Latin America. The 18 nations in his "Petrocaribe" club, founded in 2005, pay Venezuela only 30 per cent of the market price within 90 days, with rest in instalments spread over 25 years.

The other half - 1.2 million barrels per day - goes to America, Venezuela's only genuinely paying customer.

"There is a bottleneck in the Venezuelan production system," said Mazhar al-Sheridah, 68, an oil expert at the Central University of Venezuela. "It will cost at least $32 billion to build another three upgrading units and take some five years, meaning that Venezuelan production is stuck at current levels for a while yet."

All this means that Venezuela has missed much of the benefit from the oil boom and, now that prices are falling, Mr Chavez faces huge financial problems. Nobody is sure at what point his government would be unable to pay its bills, but most sources consulted believe this would probably happen if oil falls to $80 a barrel. Yesterday, oil was trading at $79.80.

The fat little tin pot dictator laughed at the USA's financial problems, but was too stupid to realize that if his only paying customer fell on hard times, he could not escape a similar fate:

Chavez has accumulated foreign reserves and organized loans from nations such as China to shield his socialist government from a protracted fall in income. But economists say he may have to slash spending if the oil price, which was at a 20-month low on Wednesday, remains low deep into next year.

Chavez initially reveled in the financial collapses in the United States. But as the crisis has widened to hit economies worldwide and caused oil prices in recent weeks to plunge he has begun to warn Venezuelans of the possible impact at home. (Reporting by Saul Hudson; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and David Gregorio)

Enjoy the schadenfreude while you can. Odds are one of these men, or perhaps their grubby little gay-bashing buddy from Iran, will manufacture some global crisis to drive the price of oil back up.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D955PMC80&show_article=1

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/3183417/Venezuelas-oil-output-slumps-under-Hugo-Chavez.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUSN1229709920081112

Sue Here, Sue Now

Sue Here, Sue Now, is the liberal response to those who support immediate domestic energy production. Once the Totalitarian Trio of President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Leader Reid is in place you can be sure there will be no new drilling. The OPECkers must be giddy with glee as they look to November 4th.

Sure, Democrats let the drilling ban expire, but it's already raining lawsuits citing protection of polar bears, beluga whales, jumping mice and any other excuse enviro-radicals can get their hands on. The Bush Administration has given ammo to the Dems by making dubious endangered species declarations. So Democrats can say with a straight face they support more domestic energy production knowing damn good and well federal regulations and endless lawsuits prevent it from ever happening.

The Mercury News reports:

The vote Wednesday in the House of Representatives — and in the Senate on Saturday — dismayed environmentalists and delighted oil companies. Yet experts on all sides of the debate say it will be years — if ever — before any new drilling comes to California.

A buzz saw of political opposition, certain lawsuits and existing marine protections all combine to make California perhaps the most difficult place in America to build new offshore oil platforms.

The Totalitarian Trio, backed by radical environmentalist lawsuits, guarantees the status quo: We pay 4 dollars for a gallon gas, transferring hundreds of billions annually to people who hate us, while we sit on a treasure trove of oil and gas. Only a liberal Democrat could devise such a scheme.

Hope and Change, baby...

Kook Bait Alert!

Senator Obama threw a little kook bait in the water the other day to try and reel the nutroots back in. According to Breitbart, he blamed Vice President Cheney for our current energy crisis. Mr. Obama is far too smart to believe his own BS, but it sure does play well with the wackadoo wing of the Democratic party.

Here's the money quote:

"President Bush, he had an energy policy. He turned to Dick Cheney and he said, 'Cheney, go take care of this,'" Obama said. "Cheney met with renewable-energy folks once and oil and gas (executives) 40 times. McCain has taken a page out of the Cheney playbook."

Here is the far left, Bush-Derangement-Syndrome explanation for high oil prices. This one is so much more plausible and satisfying than the old "supply and demand" explanation:

VP Cheney and his "Big Oil" Cronies in cahoots with Halliburton have talked President Bush into turning up that secret oil price dial under his desk. Of course, the president had to take off the headphones he was using to eavesdrop on our phone calls so he could hear what the Vice President was saying.

These actions were a result of Cheney's unprecedented secret meetings with those sinister oilmen. Never before had there been secret meetings in the White House. Every administration up to this one has released every jot and tittle of every administration activity and acted with complete openness.

Most sinister of all, VP Cheney was covertly consorting with these greedy oilmen to help formulate energy policy. A serious and honest administration would have consulted openly with environmentalists and candlestick makers.

Finally, did you know Dick Cheney shot a man in Reno just to watch him die?

Iraq Foils Nefarious Oil Stealing Plot

Hey! Those blasted Iraqis are selling the oil we went to war to steal from them! Breitbart reports that Iraq is making oil contracts with various companies, including state owned companies from six different nations.

This comes on the heels of news that the Iraqi government is playing hardball with us over negotiations on our future military presence in that country. They better watch out. They risk angering Vice President Cheney by foiling his Halliburton oil-stealing plan. Don't the Iraqis know that Dick Cheney shot a man in Reno just to watch him die?

Hear that hissing noise? It's the air slowing leaking out of the left's Anti-Iraq War balloon. The surge has worked. From Basra to Sadr City, the Iraqis are standing up and we are standing down. The government is taking bold action, sometimes in defiance of the US. These are all good signs. Let's pray the progress continues.

Congress Supports High Gas Prices, Increased Terrorist Funding

We have doubled our funding of dictators and terrorists. Thank Congress.
Patrick Casey over at American Thinker makes an excellent case for blaming congress for high gas prices. Although he singles out Democrats, I believe some disoriented elephants may have been involved as well.
Click Here to see who we get our oil from. I don't mind my money going to Colombia, Canada or the UK, but it really chaps my hide to know I'm funding Hugo Chavez's Marxism and Saudi-supported obscurantism, misogyny, and often-violent religious bigotry.
The solution is in our easy grasp: If we produced more oil the price would come down and we could tell some suppliers to get bent. It's simple supply and demand.

Brazilian Oil Find Could Dwarf Saudi Deposits

Bloomberg reports on new Brazilian oil finds that could be huge. This and other major finds could offset increased demand by the developing world, bringing prices down. Here is the most interesting part of the story:
Brazil may be pumping ``several million'' barrels of crude daily by 2020, vaulting the nation into the ranks of the world's seven biggest producers, Zeihan said in a telephone interview. The U.S. Navy's presence in the Persian Gulf and adjacent waters would be reduced, leaving the region exposed to more conflict, he said.
``We could see that world becoming a very violent one,'' said Zeihan, former chief of Middle East and East Asia analysis for Strategic Forecasting. ``If the United States isn't getting any crude from the Gulf, what benefit does it have in policing the Gulf anymore? All of the geopolitical flux that wracks that region regularly suddenly isn't our problem.''
What a delightful thought: Being able to turn our backs on that hell on earth known as the Middle East, sleeping peacefully knowing we'll no more have to send our sons and daughters over there. Old Europe might actually have to field a credible military...