Knock Yourself Out, Hugo…
February 11th, 2008 at 05:16am Mark Noonan
Go ahead, make our day:
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins court judgments to seize his government’s assets.
“If you end up freezing (Venezuelan assets) and it harms us, we’re going to harm you,” Chavez said. “Do you know how? We aren’t going to send oil to the United States. Take note, Mr. Bush, Mr. Danger.”
Exxon Mobil has gone after the assets of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA in U.S., British and Dutch courts as it challenges the nationalization of a multibillion dollar oil project by Chavez’s government.
A British court has issued an injunction “freezing” as much as $12 billion in assets.
“The outlaws of Exxon Mobil will never again rob us,” Chavez said, saying the Irving, Texas-based oil major acts in concert with “the imperialist government of the United States” and is part of corporate “worldwide mafias.”
Empty threats - he can’t pay his goon squads or make a splash in the world news without petrodollars; he’d be cutting off his nose to spite his face. I say, let him do it. Just works out to our advantage in the long run.
Entry Filed under: Foreign Affairs
32 Comments
1. phnx | February 11th, 2008 at 5:27 am
It looks like Hugo does not understand the difference between fixed assets, cash assets and fungible commodities. How does he propose to enforce this?
2. TiredofLibBullShit | February 11th, 2008 at 6:33 am
He just wants to:
“Take those profits…….”
3. SEW | February 11th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Unfortunately for Hugo, Barak, Billary and the libs here already are in line. Even though taxes on a gallon of gas are 400% the 9c profit, without any work, the libs want more. So Hugo, the line forms at the rear.
4. OhioOrrin | February 11th, 2008 at 7:29 am
phnx wrote: “It looks like Hugo does not understand…fungible commodities.”
dear phnx - how true. hugo boycotting US sales is the same as calls for US comsumers to boycott citgo.
assumng global balance, it makes no difference.
5. plainjane | February 11th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Just another larger than life boogey man mess created by Bush and company that President Clinton or Obama will have to clean up. 01/20/2009
6. Adrian | February 11th, 2008 at 8:01 am
He’s been threating to cut off oil sales to the US since about 2004 or so for one reason or another. Hasn’t happened yet, won’t happen now. Yeah he hates the United States, but man it’s hard to say no to all that cash.
File this one under news nobody needs to pay attention to.
7. extramedium | February 11th, 2008 at 8:09 am
I agree - let him do it.
8. neocon | February 11th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Spot on Adrian.
Oh and Jane, are you saying that Bush created Chavez? Because that could be in your hall of fame of completely asinine statements.
9. Bigfoot | February 11th, 2008 at 8:50 am
How about increasing our domestic production, such as by offshore drilling, so that we can tell this fascist tyrant to go to Hades, once and for all?
10. eric | February 11th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Hall of fame? That may be the most asinine comment from Jane. Seriously, Jane I think you have a special case of BDS. Do you blame EVERYTHING on President Bush? Who are you going to blame for the world’s problems once he has left office? Or do you plan on blaming him until you have breathed your last breath?
The U.S. is one of the only countries that has the ability (i.e., technology) to refine the low-quality crude oil produced in Venezuela. And the U.S. is the largest importer of oil from Venezuela. I hope Chavez cuts off exports to the U.S. Maybe it will finally provide the impetus for U.S. companies to begin drilling in ANWR.
11. Magnum Serpentine | February 11th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Just an observation, but cutting off oil to the United States does not mean he is cutting it off to the rest of the world.
There is more to the Planet than Pax Americana.
12. neocon | February 11th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Magnum,
Let him do it. There are enough reserves in Canada to sustain us for quite some time. Not to mention if the enviromentalist nazis would let us drill in ANWR or off of California.
I have a feeling Chavez will not want to lose the lucrative market that is America, but I would like him to. In fact I think we should cut him off now strictly for principle.
I can smell the sulfur from Venezuela already.
13. TiredofLibBullShit | February 11th, 2008 at 9:59 am
“Just another larger than life boogey man mess created by Bush and company that President Clinton or Obama will have to clean up.”
Uh, plane, what specifically did “Boogeyman” Bush do - what policy - to have Hugo the Horrible (who tried to make himself dictator for life) react in this way?
Answer if you can, no talking points.
Otherwise, USEFUL IDIOT, go away. Let us grownups participate in this blog.
14. eric | February 11th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Magnum,
Chavez only has a few customers for his low grade crude. It is very difficult to refine and only a few countries have that ability.
15. Sunny | February 11th, 2008 at 10:20 am
SEW | February 11th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Unfortunately for Hugo, Barak, Billary and the libs here already are in line.
How so SEW? You make ignorate statements without any facts to back them up. Further, you are so immature that you cannot use a persons proper name because of your hatred of an opposing opinion - a case you failed to make in your statement. You add nothing to a debate when you use disrespectful and immature nicknames. Why can’t you converse as an adult? You may not like the views of the Democratic candidates, and may not even care for them as a person, but that does not mean you cannot act in a respectful manner. I have not read or heard anywhere that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama agree with Chevez in any way or on any issue. And in conclusion, your statement makes absolutly no sense. “Unfortunately for Hugo . . .”????
16. bagni | February 11th, 2008 at 10:40 am
markez
hugo is confused
an alien from the darkside
darthvader of your southern hemisphere
wonder if there’s a picture of him shaking hands with rummy?
17. Pain | February 11th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
We do not understand where you come up with a 400% tax on gasoline when the RBOB cost is $US 2.35 and the federal excise tax is 18.4 cents per gallon. Which weighs out to a 7% federal tax. Even if you add the national average of 28.5 cents per gallon state taxes the rate remains at 20%. and the mark up on gasoline is generally accepted at 13 cents per gallon which earns a profit for the station of 2 cents a gallon according to the National Association of Convenience Stores.
High Gas Prices Hurt Retailers
“Consumer price sensitivity has intensified competition among retailers, resulting in declining gross margins on gasoline. In 2007, the average gross margin on a gallon of gasoline was 13.8 cents according to data from the Oil Price Information Service. However, NACS estimates that the after factoring in costs (including credit card fees), the break-even mark-up for a gallon of gasoline is 12 to 13 cents per gallon, leaving gas retailers with an average profit of one to two cents per gallon. In addition, higher costs have increased expenses as retailers must pay more for fuel inventory, often resulting in additional interest payments on lines of credit. Further, most distributors of both fuel and in-store goods charge fuel surcharges, sometimes as high as 20 percent.”– NACS, 4 January 2008.
A 400% tax would make gasoline an unbearable US$ 9. 40/gallon.
Qu’ul cuda praedex nihil!
18. phnx | February 11th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Ohio, Magnum, Jane, and all of you other leftists:
The reason that this is an idle threat is that oil is fungible. Look it up if you don’t know what that means. There are hundreds of tankers floating around with oil from who knows where floating around and for sale to the highest bidder. Once it leaves the shores of Venezuela Chavez has no control over it. End of story, end of threat.
Ohio, your analogy is not even close to being relevant. Furthermore, if Exxon Mobil win their lawsuit, the Citgo facilities will soon be owned and operated by Exxon Mobil.
The only way that his threat would be meaningful is if OPEC, Russia, Canada and Mexico agreed to boycott the US at the same time along with Hugo This would probably be viewed as an act of war and we would soon be in control of all of the pertroleum production in the Western Hemisphere. (That is unless Hillary and Obama were in charge, in which case we would kowtow to Hugo and the rest of the world.)
19. Magnum Serpentine | February 11th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I am a democrat-Centralist Anti-Fundamentalist Reconstructionist.
20. hermie | February 11th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Let Chavez go ahead and ‘withhold’ oil. Maybe he can tell the people how drinking oil is better for them.
If he continues with trying to seize farms and agricultural businesses, then he will have succeeded into turning his country into another Zimbabwe: A place with plenty of potential, now filled with starving people because the government seized the farms and gave them to political cronies or those who didn’t know or care how to work them.
21. NeoClown | February 11th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Cutting off our oil supply may pose a risk to our national security, and the Bush policy states:
“The United States should depose foreign regimes that represent a threat to the security of the United States, even if that threat is not immediate.”
Chavez made a threat; Bush has a doctrine, what’s the problem?
22. js | February 11th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Is that all you are about NeoClown?
Spreading BS?
23. neocon | February 11th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
js,
Most of our resident lefties are paranoid conspiracy theorists. I actually get a good laugh out of most their posts, like Clowns #21.
The poor dears just must have pathetic lives.
24. keefer | February 11th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Who are you going to blame for the world’s problems once he has left office? Or do you plan on blaming him until you have breathed your last breath?
You answered your own question, eric. These kooks will blame Bush for decades, any time anything goes wrong.
Pay plainjane no mind; she’s just a cow who’s full of bull…
25. Kahn | February 11th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Plainjane said “Just another larger than life boogey man mess created by Bush and company that President Clinton or Obama will have to clean up. 01/20/2009″
Huh? What, by NOT intervening in Venezuela? Will you people make up your freaking minds? The guy “nationalized” (read that “stole”) the oil company assets. They spent billions building oil wells, pipelines, refinement facilities, docks, storage tanks. He just walked in without so much as a “how ya’ do!” and took them away.
All they want is compensation. Chances are, if you have a 401K or an IRA - this is YOUR money he took.
But he gave a few million to the Kennedy’s to buy votes with so it must be OK?
26. FmrMarine | February 11th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Like Part Robertson said
better a $.50 bullet that a $25 BN invasion.
Send out Delta force and end this buffoonery.
AMF hugo!
27. Kahn | February 11th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
FmrMarine - or better yet, a crack Code Pink assassin.
28. FmrMarine | February 11th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Kahn
EEEEEEEWWWWWW LOL
29. eric | February 11th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
FmrMarine,
I made a similar statement to my wife this morning about Chavez. His type of socialist rhetoric is not good for South America. It would put a huge economic damper on the developing nations to our South. I have a lot of family (in-laws) in Brazil and not one of them is a fan of Chavez (actually, not one of them is a fan of Pres. Lula da Silva either).
30. TiredofLibBullSh** | February 11th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
planejane?
Since you have not responded then I guess you are okay with a politician stealing from another?
Oh right, he stole from big oil - that makes it okay.
You obviously have no problem with Billary’s: “I want to take those profits…….”.
Well planejane, obviously the question is too complicated for your simple mind or you are waiting for the canned answer from those who think for you.
Mindless USEFUL IDIOT.
31. phnx | February 11th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
“I am a democrat-Centralist Anti-Fundamentalist Reconstructionist” MS
Interpretation: leftist
You are not by any chance a member of an anarcho-sindicalist commune are you? Have you ever railed against the “violence inherent in the system”?
32. Xango Annie | February 12th, 2008 at 1:55 am
plainjane, is waiting for her latest fax with her talking points…waiting, waiting, maybe her fax is on the fritz..like her brain….