Word: opec
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...sigh of relief as the price fell back to about $43 last week, oil is still more expensive than it has been in the past 20 years?and the realization is sinking in that Asia may have to learn to live with higher energy costs indefinitely. With OPEC producers struggling to pump enough to meet booming global demand?and with supplies jeopardized on an almost daily basis by political events in Russia and Venezuela and by terrorist attacks in Iraq?energy experts predict that oil is unlikely to fall to less than $30 per barrel and will probably remain substantially...
Americans should be watching too. Venezuela, which sits atop 78 billion bbl. of oil--and as much as 270 billion bbl. of extra-heavy crude--is the world's fifth largest oil exporter. It's also a founding member of the OPEC oil cartel (the 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). In past decades, to please consumers in the U.S.--PDVSA's biggest market, which buys two-thirds of its exports--Venezuela often ignored OPEC's guidelines, stepping up production even when oil prices hit rock bottom in the late 1990s. But Chavez, a harsh critic...
...Many people here fear what happened in Iraq could happen to Venezuela." Still, Rodriguez, an attorney and a classical-music lover, emphasizes that Venezuela "doesn't want price volatility" and wants to continue being the U.S.'s most reliable supplier. "There is no contradiction between a strong alliance with OPEC," he says, "and a strong relationship with our principal client...
...Energy Minister, Rodriguez quickly made PDVSA more subservient to both the government and OPEC, which elected him secretary-general in 2001. PDVSA has also supplied Chavez ally Fidel Castro more than 54,000 bbl. a day on favorable finance terms. The politicized atmosphere at PDVSA--many workers say devotion to the Chavez revolution is a job requirement--helped provoke the 2002 strike. Says Ignacio Layrisse, who was afterward fired as production manager: "Ali Rodriguez may be a smart and capable man, but he's just a has-been lefty carrying out Chavez's plans to turn PDVSA into a mediocre...
...think that there's not much more production to come from OPEC. They're basically maxed out. They keep saying they're going to produce more oil, and it doesn't make that much difference...