Venezuela Halts Oil Sales To Exxon Mobil
Oil rigs and platforms are seen at Maracaibo’s lake near the western city of Maracaibo, Venezuela, January 2, 2008
CARACAS, Venezuela– Venezuela’s state oil company said Tuesday that it has stopped selling crude to Exxon Mobil Corp. in response to the U.S. oil company’s drive to use the courts to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.
Exxon Mobil is locked in a dispute over the nationalization of its oil ventures in Venezuela that has led President Hugo Chavez to threaten to cut off all Venezuelan oil supplies to the United States. Venezuela is the United States’ fourth largest oil supplier.
Tuesday’s announcement by state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, was limited to Exxon Mobil, which PDVSA accused of “judicial-economic harassment” for its efforts in U.S. and European courts.
PDVSA said it “has paralyzed sales of crude to Exxon Mobil” and suspended commercial relations with the Irving, Texas-based company.
“The legal actions carried out by the U.S. transnational are unnecessary … and hostile,” PDVSA said in the statement. It said it will honor any existing contracts it has with Exxon Mobil for joint investments abroad, but reserved the right to terminate them if permitted by the terms of the contracts.
It was unclear how much oil PDVSA supplies to Exxon Mobil, the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company. Both Chavez and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez previously said the company is no longer welcome to do business in Venezuela.
Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Margaret Ross declined to comment on the move by Venezuela but added that “it is our long-standing practice to take appropriate steps to meet our customers’ needs.”
Exxon Mobil is challenging the Chavez government’s nationalization of one of four heavy oil projects in the Orinoco River basin, one of the world’s richest oil deposits.
A British court issued an injunction last month temporarily freezing up to $12 billion of PDVSA’s assets. Exxon Mobil also has secured an “order of attachment” from U.S. District Court in Manhattan on about $300 million in cash held by PDVSA. A hearing to confirm the order is scheduled for Wednesday.
Other oil companies including Chevron Corp., France’s Total, Britain’s BP PLC and Norway’s StatoilHydro ASA have negotiated deals with Venezuela to continue as minority partners in the nationalized projects. ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil balked at the government’s tougher terms and have been in compensation talks with PDVSA.
(AP)
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
we’re probably their biggest customer… why not just drill up in ANWR, and stop buying from the bastards… drive their economy into the gutter so they can get chavez out?!?!?!
February 13th, 2008 at 9:58 amGood. Time to wean ourselves off of foreign oil and tell this droid and all like him to go fuck off.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:03 amwe’re probably their biggest customer… why not just drill up in ANWR, and stop buying from the bastards… drive their economy into the gutter so they can get chavez out?!?!?!
———————————————————
AND, we could possibly/probably do THAT quicker and cheaper than we did out-spending the Soviets in the arms race …
It would shake up the Middle East oil thugs too.
Throw in a newly built refinery or two …
This is a no-brainer.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:05 amKeep your oil Chavez.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:06 amThey seized physical assets as well, when they “nationalized”, you take a risk when you do business out side the US.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:10 amIf I’m not mistaken, Iraq is looking for business partners.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:12 amcasus belli
February 13th, 2008 at 10:14 amI wish we were off oil all together. but since alternative fuels are pretty much a pipe dream at the moment i agree we really need to get the oil from ANWR. Alaska is beautiful and we could keep it that way. the 2 arent mutually exclusive. just be careful getting the oil out and exporting if you’re that concerned. number 1 priority is to tell these middle eastern gangsters to go piss up a rope once and for all.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:16 amAh Hugo, quite the business man. Where will this path lead you? The way of your idol Che?
February 13th, 2008 at 10:20 amDoes this mean I no longer have to watch those crap commercials with poor Americans thanking Chavez for his generosity / heating oil?
February 13th, 2008 at 10:44 amSome alternative sources of energy or Fuck Venezuela and The Arabs:
1. Nuclear energy - The cleanest burning fuel on the planet.
2. Oil extracted from coal. Diesel fuel is what I’m talking about. We have 1/3 of the world’s reserves in coal so WTF over?
3. Extracting Natural Gas from old waste dumps and burning farm waste for fuel.
4. Burning old tires. Great and abundent energy source. We have the scrubber technology to reduce pollutants.
5. Extracting fuel from sugar not corn. Takes more fuel to make more fuel with corn than it does with sugar. And not just any sugar. Lousianna cane sugar.
6. There are vast Natural gas fields across the US and in the Gulf of Mexico that have been found. and are as yet untapped.
7. Drill in Anwar.
8. Extract oil from older capped wells by digging into adjacent rock and in deeper cavities.
9. Build more refineries and stop paying the Arabs amd our so-called allies to do our refining for us.
10. Make one blend of oil not the current 53. Some of these blends put a huge strain on our refineries and require serious heating and reheating to produce blends…which in turn cause refineries increased maintenance shutdowns and fires.
11. Have an oil tax holiday on every national holiday. In some states that would save the consumer as much as 60 cents per gal of gas.
12. Continue to develop wind, solar and water-based energy
generating plants.
All of this is doable, reasonable and practical. All we have to do is make this a national priority as much as Defense is a national priority. Tell Greenpeace and the bug-fucking hippies to go fuck off and suspend the bureaucratic red tape.
In 10 years we could be self-sufficient in diesel oil. In 20 years we would be done with all energy inports and be a gross exporter of energy.
Think I’m bull shitting? I dare Congress and the next POTUS to try and do all these 12 ideas and prove me wrong.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:04 amThere was a great episode of Navy Seals on the Military Channel last night. It was about the arrest of Manuel Noriega. What we’re dealing with in Venezuela is Pineapple Face Part II. I wonder if Hugo watched the same episode because I have a feeling he’s heading for the same ending as Manuel.
February 13th, 2008 at 8:22 pm