Writes Trump, at Truth Social.
Here's the NYT story: "Trump Says U.S. Has Deal for Control of Large Share of Venezuela’s Oil/The president said an agreement between the countries covered more than 65 billion barrels of reserves. A U.S. official said it would involve a partnership with a private company."
Even before the removal of Mr. Maduro, American officials bluntly claimed that the United States had created Venezuela’s oil industry and that the country’s government had effectively stolen U.S. oil fields through nationalizations. Unlike most other big oil powers, however, the United States does not have a national oil company through which it can make investments. Asked for comment, the State Department said through the U.S. official that the deal would in effect give the United States 55 percent of the output of a joint venture with an unidentified “experienced private operator in Venezuela.”...
The Trump administration’s deal showcases the major shift underway in the energy landscape of Venezuela, which is thought to have the world’s largest oil reserves. Maintaining government control over oil has shaped the country’s politics for decades, and many Venezuelans view oil as a birthright and a cornerstone of national identity....
The nationalization had been a pillar of Chavismo, the political movement created by Hugo Chávez, Mr. Maduro’s predecessor, which wielded control over Venezuela until this year.
পোস্টগুলি
৪৭টি মন্তব্য:
Let's hope that we kick back enough money to the Venezuelan people to rebuild what was destroyed by their communist experiment and the recent earthquake. If I was the PR flack for the Trump administration, I would be sending smoke signals that our vision is too rebuild Venezuela into the Norway of South America.
Not holding my breath.
The comments pages on all the MSM uniformly decry American Imperialism. The facts are that Venezuela has the largest oil resources in the world, and the Maduro regime completely trashed the petroleum extraction infrastructure in the decades that it was in power. Their only hope to rebuild, with literally tens of billions in investment and very sophisticated technology, is through US energy companies.
Who else is going to do it, BP ? CNOOC ? Not a chance.
The alternative is to do nothing and let the people of Venezuela wallow in poverty. I'll let other bloggers comment as to whether that is an objective of the left.
MM is correct. Venezuela’s socialist dictators left the country and the oil fields in such poor shape that they lack the resources to get them working again. If Venezuela wants to recover, then they need to work with other countries.
Highly respected.
Trump (and the US military) took Venezuela from a China client state to a US client state without breaking a sweat.
Venezuela becomes prosperous again. America secures future energy reserves...horrible, just horrible. What is that crazy madman Trump going to think of next?
I see Ro Khanna and the Democrats are already crying about this.
What Bob B said at 6:30am. That is the larger point, not surprisingly missed by the geniuses in our media. They never fail to miss the larger stories happening all around them, all around the world.
Out: Joe for Oil
In: Trump for Oil
…expanding on Howard’s comment- Venezuela’s location and resources could make it the wealthiest, most stable economy in SA and also the world and yet…so may African nations in the same position.
…one of the most stable economies in the world that is…
I watched the Bolivar revolution take place almost from start to finish, from one of its neighbors. Chavez did more than simply run his wells and infrastructure into the ground, he followed the Marxist playbook. He seized drilling rigs, work boats, helicopters, assets of the foreign companies that were there working on joint ventures. They're still there, in the weeds or on the seabed, worthless junk now. The wells, pipelines, and refineries are the same.
The problem is, much of the oil is heavy. It's difficult to extract, and to refine for a profit. And making deals to bring in foreign investment is not adding to the reserves of the US. The reserves are obviously the property of Venezuelans, which revives the old arguments of what put Chavez in power in the first place. It's a stupid argument to make - and therefore the issue is about something else.
“Even before the removal of Mr. Maduro, American officials bluntly claimed that the United States had created Venezuela’s oil industry and that the country’s government had effectively stolen U.S. oil fields through nationalizations.”
And of course that will never happen again, until next time. And 55% is just unseemly. Venezuelans will never accept it. We might have gotten away with 30%, for a while.
Reconstruction. Equity. Inclusion... across the Gulf of America.
Unfortunately for Democrat Party policy and Obama’s legacy you can drill your way to energy sufficiency. Investment with expertise in Venezuela is going to force Canada to move or get off the pot. They will have to tell the First Nations and the BC hippies that there are going to be some new pipelines and a vlcc capable port on the west coast or Canadian oil could face a $3 per bbl drop in West Canada Select oil price. To do otherwise is to risk the money that Alberta gives Quebec.
At least China won’t pay Greenpeace to protest these lines, because China wants them. But Canada can hope that Democrats get back into power so they can put Chavez back in to re-destroy Venesuela.
Aggie pointed out, that...
"..much of the oil is heavy..."
yep! and ALL of North Dakota's oil is SO THIN that it HAS TO be mixed with thicker oil to able to make fuel out of..
Hey! You got chocolate in my peanut butter!
Yeah, well you got peanut butter on my chocolate!
mmmm!
This will be a net benefit for everyone, many millions of people. It was done under Trump. Those two facts mean that it will be endlessly lied about and recast as something it is not, probably for a decade at least.
"substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans"
It won't just be for Americans. Crude oil is a global commodity. Any increase in supply tends to lower prices for all consumers.
Why are people surprised? This was the entire point of decades of trying to overthrow Venezuela.
Not much information to go on about this deal. Trump’s announcement on Truth Social is likely his usual distracting noise and bluster. Written as to imply this oil will flow on to the market in large quantities tomorrow. It will take decades and massive investment for this to happen.
Hope the Venezuelans get something from this; capital investment in their aging oil infrastructure and jobs will be good and presumably also a good price for the oil exported.
Canada definitely hardest hit.
"Why are people surprised?"
Please point to someone here that is surprised.
I don't know shit about global-petro-politics. I'll leave that to the other great experts here.
But does anyone remember how communications used to be from any President pre-trump, pre-X? Its amazing that the President can bypass the spin and filter of the NYT et.al. to get his message direct to the voters/markets/allies/foes and to the world. It is something big in society that has shifted. How would this type of news been managed 20 years ago?
See. The military action in Iraq WAS about oil. Lefties and Chicken Littles were right all the time. /s
So if Trump’s implication is “we have access to 65 billion barrels, therefore American consumers will soon have dramatically more oil,” that’s misleading. It’s just a classic big number that Trump was sure to jump all over and will repeat ad nauseam going forward. Extracting a large fraction of it would be a multi-decade undertaking.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-venezuela-oil-reserves-eb0ed5a1e99602c21a7f690c3368020e
If the question is “could this eventually give U.S. companies access to a very large Venezuelan oil resource?” yes, potentially. But “65 billion barrels” is a geological balance-sheet number. It isn’t a tanker schedule. The oil won’t suddenly appear in U.S. refineries next year.
In fact, the distinction is particularly important given Trump’s claim that the deal will help lower gasoline prices. The fields themselves cannot produce meaningful additional volumes until the investment, contracts, infrastructure and production capacity are actually in place. There’s another revealing number: Venezuela says the arrangement could attract about $100 billion in investment. That tells you something about the scale of the rehabilitation required.
What Olson Johnson is right! said .... strikes me.
John Galt captured airwaves for few hours
But Trump has 24/7
"How would this type of news been managed 20 years ago?"
"Journalism is about covering important stories. With a pillow, until they stop moving." — David Burge
After decades, I say decades, that’s tens upon tens of years, Trump took down Venezuela without a casualty! Amazing, simply amazing.
Dementia ridden Petrolphile is also a pedophile.
This presidency is a disaster on every level. Thats a fact that MAGAts know in their heart of hearts but have to deny it because .......THEY'RE IN A FUCKING CULT
@Aggie: "The problem is, much of the oil is heavy. It's difficult to extract, and to refine for a profit. "
True, but a lot of our Gulf Coast refineries were designed specifically for it, and can economically produce a lot of valuable petroleum products from it.
FortheloveoofIce spews yet another content-free torrent of invective. Yawn.... how very tiresome and boring....
"This presidency is a disaster on every level."
You're flat earther aren't you?
FortheloveofLice
It is both amusing and satisfying to see IEE strain to find a way to discredit this amazing Trump accomplishment. Add it to list provided by Eve yesterday.
"FortheloveoofIce spews yet another content-free torrent of invective."
Oh, I don't know. I've been on the fence with Trump, LoveofLice's cogent and erudite analyses have now convinced me of the validity of his criticisms. /s
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴, 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵.”
It potentially weakens one of Canada’s biggest advantages in the U.S. oil market, the lack of a reliable competing supplier of heavy crude and makes Canada’s dependence on a single customer considerably more uncomfortable. But there’s an important “not tomorrow” qualification.
Venezuela’s infrastructure is in such poor condition that even the current agreement is expected to require years and enormous investment before production increases substantially. And Canada has advantages Venezuela doesn’t: established production, functioning infrastructure, political stability and reliable delivery.
Keep trying, IEE.
FortheloveofLice
Goober will lie, Lord, he will bleat
FortheloveofLice
Goober don’t care who he hurt or beat
FortheloveofLice
Goober will sell out everybody
h/t O’Jays Jackson/Gamble/Huff
"Venezuela’s infrastructure is in such poor condition that even the current agreement is expected to require years and enormous investment before production increases substantially."
There has never been a shortage of reporting that tries to mitigate any good news about Trump.
Don't underestimate the power of large financial incentives.
'...True, but a lot of our Gulf Coast refineries...' Yes, this goes back to the old Citgo days. Citgo was owned by PDVSA, and they owned refineries in the US.
The problem is going to be the cost of restoring production volumes in Venezuela. It can be done, but not cheaply, and therein lies the rub, as the crude is heavy and of marginal value. The story of 'cheap oil forever' is not an accurate one. The risk of eventual seizure sometime in the future is also a huge factor when the economics are run to justify project budgets.
I bet the Kushners make a ton of money on this deal. Go America!
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱.”
No one underestimates financial incentives. But money cannot instantly rebuild neglected infrastructure, restore production, or replace lost expertise. Calling that “mitigating good news” is like calling a derelict factory’s repair bill pessimistic. The incentive may be enormous; so are the practical constraints.
We starved them, we denied them parts and equipment and investment for oil production, all because we didn’t like who they elected, and over time, as Venezuelans got skinnier, babies died in the womb due to poor nutrition, they finally capitulated and handed over their oil.
Of course it was about drugs, right, not 3/4 of a trillion in oil. Has the street price of cocaine gone up, or did you all already know that that was just a pretext. But not to worry! The Iran war is about repressed Iranians, who are now free to rise up and put in a government that will hand over their oil!
Jaq stands shoulder to shoulder with the fake-elected fraud who starved his own people.
got it.
Jaq, you are starting to confuse your genocides. I thought Israel was bad and now you point out the venesuelan babies starving inside the wombs of their mothers. Did the US make Chavez give free oil to Cuba instead of selling it to buy gruel for the expectant mothers?
Jaq, you need an editor to take out the obvious parts.
Ok- work needs to be done to get Venezuela's oil production up and reliably running and it's going to take some time to do so.
Instead of fussing over that, maybe consider where things might stand if Maduro was still in charge.
Isn't this better?
I swear- you could hand out free $100 bills and there would still be people who had complaints.
Jaq said...
You might of read past the part where they kicked the oil companies and their employees out of Venezuela. You know. The people that actually know how to run the pumps and the refineries. Are you actually this thick or is there something in the maple syrup up there?
As the largest crude oil supplier in the world why do we continue to be concerned with keeping heavy crude burried in caverns?
Most of our heavy crude comes from the tar sands in Alberta and also Prudhoe Bay oilfields in Alaska, We have built refineries to accomodate oil sources but the Texas and Great Plains oil patches produce the cheapest gasoline from light sweet crude. Our oil reserves in storage contain only heavy crude. so we sell the damn stuff overseas.
We process it here as well, Gadfly. We have refineries specifically built for heavy crude. Or I should say we have refineries with the equipment to process heavy crude. Where do you think paving tar comes from.
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 4 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith. Also: No italics, even briefly. Use asterisks for emphasis. And don't play with the format by changing fonts or using boldface or all caps. Never include more than one extra line break between paragraphs.