Venezuela to nationalize U.S. firm's oil rigs

Venezuela to nationalize U.S. firm's oil rigs

www.reuters.com

(Reuters) - Venezuela will nationalize a fleet of oil rigs belonging to U.S. company Helmerich and Payne, the latest takeover in a push to socialism as President Hugo Chavez struggles with lower oil output and a recession.

Chavez in 2007 nationalized multi-billion dollar projects in Venezuela's vast Orinoco oil region, persuading companies such as BP Plc, to accept minority stakes in facilities they had built.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Hugo Chaves is like the Joker. Sometimes he sounds and acts like a mad man, and other times it looks like he knows what he is doing, wether you agree with his agenda or not.

My dad once told me he is not afraid of guns, but of guns in the hands of crazy men. Crazy men are unpredictable.

I won't say Chavez IS crazy, but he is unpredictable, even though this nationalization doesn't come as a surprise. The small steps he talks you can say "Yeah, I saw that coming". What intrigues me is, what's at the very end of his agenda? What's the final item on his list? That guy is my neighbour and nobody likes a crazy beighbour.

Last thing I want is for him to give US an excuse to go after him. Don't want US military bases near our border, either.

Anyway, there it is and it is what it is.



www.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

sry but what I can see in Mr Chavez is not a Cocoa Brain but more Balls of Steel

guess someone might be panning a regime change in Venezuela but hopefully history repeats it self and the Power of the People will prevail again!!

VIVA LA REVULUZION!!!!!

reply to post by heineken


Power of the people? Do you think Hugo Chavez is doing what he is doing, not for himself, but for others? Does he seem like an altruist to you? Venezuela doesn't even have a free press anymore. He is shutting down anyone who is against him. I can't see how that gives power to the people, if the people can only have a voice if it is to agree with him.

I agree he has balls of steel(when his courage doesn't get mixed up with crazyness). But I don't think his main motivation is the venezuelan citizens. It's himself.

reply to post by henriquefd


no he is not doing it for himself....you dont know the man than sorry...research some good documentaries on his life, you might be amazed...and yes he is loved in Venezuela (not form the rich people though)..the people saved him, and they will save him again

hugo chavez is not crazy

and the US wont do anything, thas is not the freaking Iraq

the US only have balls to attack places where there is no help and everyone does not give a $¨@#

Originally posted by Faiol
hugo chavez is not crazy

and the US wont do anything, thas is not the freaking Iraq

the US only have balls to attack places where there is no help and everyone does not give a $¨@#

I agree that Venezuela is not Iraq, and almost every country, including BRazil, would be against any attempt to treat Venezuela as an Iraq. Still, the US has set foot at Colombia and that has stirred up some tensions.

Originally posted by heineken
reply to post by henriquefd

 

no he is not doing it for himself....you dont know the man than sorry...research some good documentaries on his life, you might be amazed...and yes he is loved in Venezuela (not form the rich people though)..the people saved him, and they will save him again

Are you venezuelan. If so, don't take my words the wrong way. I have no intentions of bashing Hugo Chavez, specially if you are from Venezuela. Then, yes, you probably know him a lot more than I do. I only know what I read on the news. I wouldn't trust any documentaries 100%, though. I wouldn't advise anyone to trust on any documentaries about any brazilian politician either.

I work with politicians for years. I have seen corruption first hand. I have seen them lying to the public. I have seen them plotting their schemes. Stealing people's taxes. And while doing all that, people would sitll love them, unaware of what is going on behind the curtains.

I won't say all that is true to Hugo Chavez, but I am still against him shutting down those TV channels.

My opinion about him is divided. Like I said in the OP, sometimes he seems to know what he is doing, but other times, it makes no sense. I will leave it at that, since that is as far as I can go on my opinions about Chavez. I will respect you opinion if you think otherwise.

The first country to actually make the switch was a very important oil exporter indeed: Iraq, in November 2000. Before the war in Iraq began, some observers, myself included, argued that this might well be a major reason for the US desire to invade and the strong Franco-German opposition to the invasion8 ,9 . Corroborating evidence included the apparent influence which loyalty (or lack thereof) to the dollar seemed to have on the US attitude towards other OPEC members. Iran had been talking of selling its own oil for euros6 ,10 and was subsequently included in George Bush's 'axis of evil'. Venezuela, another important oil exporter, had started bartering some of its oil, thus avoiding the use of the dollar, and was encouraging OPEC to do likewise11 - and the US was widely suspected in having played a part in the attempted coup against the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez.

Source: see signature

Coincidentally all nations with significant oil reserves trying to turn away from the PetroDollar are named 'axis of evil' and are either invaded, bombed or their regime removed.






[edit on 24-6-2010 by Mdv2]

Seems like it's high time for the company owning the rigs to blow them sky high a la "The Fountainhead".

Okay, I read the article. But it's not clear to me what "takeover" means. Doesn't seem like it's a hostile or military takeover, because at one point say he persuaded some other company...do we assume that to mean persuaded them to sell to the government?

From what I remember, Chavez believes that natural resources like oil and water belong to all the inhabitants on the planet. If that is the thinking then a government agency managing it for its people makes more sense than a private firm doing it for profit. Closer to the people.

I guess I need to look more closely into this to get all the facts.

What I do find more interesting is the shrewd timing amid what's going on in the GoM and Middle East. And the timing refers to releasing a story about what's probably been going on a long time now or who decided to release it and why now?

And let's not forget that Chavez and Venezuela are allied with Iran and both participate in the The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which is an intergovernmental organization of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.

[edit on 24-6-2010 by ~Lucidity]

Usually, nationalization means that company switches from private to public (government) entity with company staff replaced, that is foreigners are replaced with local workers which is usually only upper management.

Venezuela has done this before, which means if you now install a Starbucks there, chances are Chavez will claim it as his own. It all depends on what you take over, oil rigs are top loot because you most likely have men who know how to operate and maintain those suckers.

These moves were made before by developing countries. It may look like "oh yeah they gots huevos viva la revoluzion!!" or "get dat stoopid americans harhar" but in reality, punishment that follows far outweighs the prize.

Still, Chavez is probably not that dumb and won't piss of US too much, he's probably just playing games with corporations, showing them he can manipulate too. He knows they have interest in his oil and that they won't just leave. Probably. History shows otherwise though.

Oh and related, old thread (Ecuadorean threat to oil giants):
www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 24/6/2010 by SassyCat]

Originally posted by heineken
reply to post by henriquefd

 

no he is not doing it for himself....you dont know the man than sorry...research some good documentaries on his life, you might be amazed...and yes he is loved in Venezuela (not form the rich people though)..the people saved him, and they will save him again

Im not rich and i not love him, come here to see if you can talk so much about Chavez after that.

I dont need to make research, i dont need to eat propaganda, im Venezuelan, i live in Venezuela and i see everyday what he does.

1 simple example, i was looking for a work, i send my papers to the gov tax office, they say to me NO, i asked why, well, it was because i was in the list of the people who sign a petition for a referendum against him.

When the gov deny you a job because you dont agree with the president, well, things start going bad!