Oil companies not running from Venezuela

[Judi Lynn]

April 13, 2006, 1:36AM
Oil companies not running from Venezuela

By BRIAN ELLSWORTH
Reuters News Service

CARACAS, VENEZUELA - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has rattled oil markets with tough anti-capitalist talk, higher royalties and oil field takeovers, but petroleum companies operating in the world's fifth-largest crude exporter are hardly running scared.

With crude prices soaring and oil reserves growing scarcer, the South American nation is still an attractive proposition for top petroleum operators even as the country's socialist leader demands a bigger cut of the black gold revenues.

Chavez has accused Big Oil of robbing the nation's resources, and last week seized two privately operated oil fields, but global oil giants like Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell and Total are still seeking opportunities in Venezuela.

"A large majority of companies are willing to accept tighter terms," said Patrick Esteruelas, a consultant with the Eurasia Group in New York. "Venezuela has large untapped potential reserves and oil prices remain very high."
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/3790447.html

[ret5hd]

1. So, reading between the lines...

our gov't calls him a communist for doing exactly what any good capitalist does: getting the best money for your product.

:banghead: god, we are ruled by those that think we are dolts!

[cliss]

10. Of course! All this time,

these companies have been sucking these countries dry. I for one am glad to see that Chavez and others are finally demanding some realistic numbers.

In a cosmic sense, Chavez is actually doing them a favor. He has stated that he wants gas prices to go up. They have, for a number of reasons. The oil companies are making more money than ever before.

You hear that, Exxon? Chavez = Good.

[Demit]

2. "A large majority of companies are willing to accept tighter terms"--

that's it in a nutshell.

[muntrv]

3. Just like Texas benefits from it's oil,

by having no state income tax and large endowments to UT-Austin, Venezuela has a right to benefit from it's oil.

[JDPriestly]

6. And then there is Alaska!

Don't Alaskans actually get some sort of share or pay-out from the oil revenue? I'm not certain about that, but I think I've heard it somewhere. Has anyone else heard that Alaskans get to share in the oil money?

I'm right (on edit)

ALASKA

The Alaska state constitution claims common heritage rights of ownership of oil and other minerals for the people of the state as a whole. Citizen dividend checks are distributed every year in Alaska out of the interest payments to an oil royalties deposit account called the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) created in 1976 after oil was discovered on the North Slope. The APF is a public trust fund - a diversified stock, bond and real estate portfolio - into which are deposited the oil royalties received from the corporations which extract the oil from the lands of Alaska. The first citizen dividend check from the interest of the APF was issued in 1982 and was for $1000 per every person for everyone in Alaska who had resided in the state for at least one year. Annual citizen dividends have been issued every year since then, for a total of more than $23,000 per person.

http://www.progress.org/cg/cdann.htm

[killbotfactory]

11. Texas and Alaska are evil Communist states

Didn't you know?

[Johnyawl]

4. I would imagine that a lot of those oil companies....

...are hanging on in Venezuela hoping that Bush succeeds in overthrowing Chavez.

[Robbien]

9. I do not think the oil companies are just passively waiting around

for Bush to do anything. The oil companies have plenty of dollars in their pockets and there are plenty of soldiers for hire available to do anything for a buck.

[Zorra]

5. If US leaders had cojones like Chavez we would have dictated tighter

terms to corporations a long time ago...particularly regarding outsourcing of jobs.

Good for Chavez and the people of Venezuela.

[Vidar]

7. Hear, hear!

[Roland99]

8. Corporations are the new "people"