Little man: Big Oil

[jimeez]

Now that Chavez gained (http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/01/news/international/bc.venezuela.nationalization.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes) control of Venezuela's last privately run oil field, what does it really mean for the U.S. or the rest of the oil-dependent planet if he succeeds? Will he succeed?

If he can persuade the foreign companies to stay, Venezuela will be on track to develop the planet's largest known oil deposit and possibly surpass Saudi Arabia as the nation with the most reserves. But if he scares them away, the Orinoco River region could end up starved of the investment and know-how needed to transform the Orinoco's tar-lake crude into marketable crude oil.You can't do much with oil fields without the techno-know-how.

[ethics]

He is a joke, a clown.

[jimeez]

I think we all agree on that. But why did Big Oil bow out? I don't get it.

[ethics]

They had no choice.

[Steve]

But why did Big Oil bow out? I don't get it.I believe it's been to avoid throwing good money after bad.

The history of petroleum is full of examples where the infrastructure investment hasn't kept pace with production needs and supply demands. Heck, we've seen that in the U.S., with a portion of gasoline price increases over the last few years attributed to lack of refinery capacity.

Chavez will destroy Venezuala in the long term.

[ethics]

WSJ does a good job on describing Chavez' motives. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117796687914587362.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular)
Which is basically trying to stick it to the US as well as having Maoist ideology application.

• The Goal: Hugo Chávez wants to replace the U.S. as Venezuela's main partner and client in the oil business. The big winner could be China.

• What's at Stake: Venezuela has the biggest oil reserves outside the Middle East, and global energy demand is growing.

• The Bottom Line: If Mr. Chávez succeeds, the U.S. will become even more reliant on oil from the volatile Middle East.

Here's a graph to put things in a better light about our imports from the idiot's country. http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/6421/naam744venoil2007043018zv4.gif