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Venezuela to Provide Discounted Heating Oil and Free Eye Operations to U.S. Poor
Bernardo Delgado, Venezuelanalysis.com
Caracas, Venezuela – Venezuela’s Chavez said to visiting Rev. Jesse Jackson today that he would like Jackson to help with finding a way to provide discounted heating oil and free eye operations to poor communities in the U.S. Pointing out that Venezuela provides 1.5 million barrels of oil per day to the U.S., Chavez said, “we would like to provide a part of this 1.5 million barrels of oil to poor communities.” …
“There is a lot of poverty in the U.S. and don’t believe that everything reflects the American Way of Life. Many people die of cold in the winter. Many die of heat in the summer, many unemployed and that die of starvation,” said Chavez in explaining why Venezuela was interested in providing discounted heating oil to the U.S. poor. “We could have an impact on seven to eight million persons,” he added.
Chavez said that he was interested in talking to Jackson about this plan, so that his organization and other U.S.-based groups might help with it. Chavez mentioned the groups TransAfrica Forum, Global Exchange, and Global Women’s Strike that could also help implement the plan.
Part of the plan was for the U.S.-based and Venezuelan state-owned oil company Citgo to provide heating oil directly to poor households. Chavez said this would not present a loss to Venezuela because the idea would be to offer the oil at a lower rate because intermediaries would not be involved. Up to 30% to 40% of the cost could be saved said Chavez. Citgo licenses 14,000 gas station franchises and 8 refineries in the U.S.
Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.S. Bernardo Alvarez, had told Chavez that the embassy has already received over 140 requests about the plan, even though it has not been formally announced yet. …
(28 August 2005)
Phillipene Palace mulls ‘coercive powers’ for Arroyo vs energy crisis
Joel Francis Guinto, INQ7.net
WHEN the energy crisis degenerates into a “worst case scenario” President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be forced to use “coercive powers” to enforce energy conservation, Malacañang said Saturday.
However, given the present situation of world oil prices soaring to record highs, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said “regular laws will work. ..In a worst case scenario, we need to have coercive powers for the executive to enforce the energy conservation program,” Bunye told state radio station dzRB. Bunye was asked if there is a need to grant Arroyo emergency powers, as earlier suggested by her economic managers. …
In a statement, Bunye said the energy crisis must be the “singular point of focus” of all sectors.
“The public is called upon to contribute their share in energy conservation and efficiency. The local government units are expected to fully muster the tools of local autonomy in sustaining countryside development, preserving peace and order, providing basic needs,” he said.
Earlier this week, Arroyo formed “energy police” to ensure that government offices are implementing energy conservation measures.
(27 August 2005)
Time to worry about oil
Patrick Brethour, Globe and Mail
Calgary — As oil soars, Canadians have been consoling themselves with the thought that at least crude is relatively cheaper than during the energy crisis of the early 1980s.
Then, a toxic economic brew of costly oil, double-digit inflation and soaring interest rates plunged Canada deep into recession. For months, economists have been singing the same refrain: Don’t worry about another similar recession. And be happy that oil is still below the heights it hit in the early 1980s, once inflation and efficiency gains are taken into account.
It may be time to start worrying. Oil prices in Canada are now higher than during the worst of the 1980s energy crisis, even accounting for the effect of inflation. And crude is rapidly approaching its all-time peak price — by any definition, a danger zone that ratchets up the peril of inflation and recession.
Even without any record being breached, some economists believe crude prices are elevated enough that they threaten to push global economic growth into low gear. “The current level of oil prices is sufficiently high that it’s posing a global economic risk,” said Craig Alexander, deputy chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank.
Yet, Mr. Alexander’s moderately pessimistic assessment is based on the idea that prices are still relatively lower today than 25 years ago.
The notion that the cost of crude is lower now than in the early 1980s is true in some parts of the Western world — but not in Canada. Then, the federal government’s National Energy Program capped the selling price of oil, limiting expenses for consumer and industrial users — but slapping a ceiling on revenue for the oil patch.
(29 August 2005)
Online articles from the Globe and Mail seem to slip behind a pay-per-view wall within a few days.
Gold Rises in Asia as Surge in Oil Spurs Inflation Gain Concern
Staff, Bloomberg
Gold rose in Asia after crude oil in New York surged to a record, boosting bullion’s appeal as a hedge against inflation. Crude oil rose to $70.80 a barrel after Hurricane Katrina moved into production regions of the Gulf of Mexico, forcing companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. to shut operations.
“Everyone’s just focusing on crude, I wouldn’t be surprised if gold breaks $440 today” said Jonathan Barratt, director of foreign exchange and commodities at Sydney-based Tricom Futures Services Pty. Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as $2.40, or 0.6 percent, to $440.10 an ounce. It traded at $440 at 10:23 a.m. Sydney time. Gold fell 0.2 percent to close at $437.70 on Aug. 26.
(29 August 2005)
Blackout a call for energy plan
Editorial, SF Chronicle
AS POWER outages go, last week’s was a quick flicker, lasting barely long enough to soften ice cream in the kitchen freezer. But the rolling blackouts for some half-million customers in Southern California sound like a bad movie no one wants to see again.
Remember the wreckage of the energy crisis four years ago? There were daily brownout warnings, corporate bankruptcies, price gouging by Enron and soaring electricity prices. The worst of the yearlong crisis came in the late summer and early fall — just as now — and left then-Gov. Gray Davis scrambling for an explanation, just as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did at a photo-op appearance at the state’s energy control room.
It may sound like a re-run, but the situation is far from it, if California’s leaders handle things correctly. Since the energy crisis, the state has taken major steps forward. Power supplies, prices and reliability are much better. But as the lights dimmed across Los Angeles and San Diego last week, the state is easily reminded of its dark history.
Some good news: The latest outage didn’t happen because of too little juice. It was a foul-up in moving the electrons around when a major transmission line broke down. Shutdowns, unfortunately, are a fact of modern life.
(29 August 2005)
