Venezuela pulls control from Big Oil

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

PUERTO PIRITU, Venezuela (Reuters) -- President Hugo Chavez's government took over Venezuela's last remaining privately run oil fields Tuesday, intensifying a decisive struggle with Big Oil over one of the world's most lucrative deposits.

Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez declared that the oil fields had reverted to state control just after midnight. Television footage showed workers in hard hats raising the flags of Venezuela and the national oil company at a refinery and four drilling fields in the oil-rich Orinoco River basin. Chavez planned a more elaborate celebration Tuesday afternoon with red-clad oil workers, soldiers and a fly over by Russian-made fighter jets.

The companies ceding control include BP Plc (Charts), ConocoPhillips (Charts, Fortune 500), Exxon Mobil (Charts, Fortune 500)., Chevron (Charts, Fortune 500), France's Total SA (Charts) and Norway's Statoil ASA (Charts). All but ConocoPhillips have agreed in principle to state control, and Venezuela has warned it may expropriate that company's assets if it doesn't follow suit.

Despite the fanfare, these companies remain locked in a behind-the-scenes struggle with the Chavez government, and appear to be taking a decisive stand, demanding conditions - and presumably compensation - to convince them that Venezuela will continue to be good business.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/01/news/international/bc.venezuela.nationalization.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

---

To those who have rallied behind Chavez because of his challenges to the Bush Administration, let me caution that "The Enemy of My Enemy" is not automatically my friend. Government seizures of private property are never a good policy decision, and from an efficiency standpoint, if the Government doesn't have experience in operating oilfields, the results may not be better for the citizenry than more rigorous licensing policies.

[electron_blue]

1. Wow. What reverberations will this have?

[TlalocW]

2. I disagree

Government seizures of private property are usually not a good policy decision, but Latin America has been the US's playground for a long time, and historically, we've abused our relationships with Latin American countries with the help of corrupt, right-wing dictators, entrenching ourselves in positions that don't serve the country's citizens. When someone comes along to challenge the status quo and works against who he perceives as the enemy, well, who is he supposed to give the "spoils of revolution" to - the same companies he feels are preventing progress?

I'm not saying that what Chavez is doing will ultimately be right, but there have been instances in the history of Latin America where our businesses were thrown out, and the lives of the people there improved.

TlalocW

[w4rma]

3. Overthrowing big oil is morally equivalent to overthrowing a dictatorship, imho.

Chavez paid big oil for the controlling stock, btw. The only thing he did was force them to sell enough shares to give Venezuela 51%.

[ToeBot]

4. Lotsa people have experience running oil fields

I'm sure Venezuela wont have any problems finding someone to replace any American company that wont play ball. And as far as enemies go, the Oil Industry is pretty high on the list (easily in the top 5). I wont weep for them. As far as I'm concerned the recourses of a country (or the entire earth for that matter) belong to the people not to ANY corporation.

[northzax]

9. actually, not really

running an oil field for the long term is not actually all that easy. it is a remarkably technical skill, and the big oil companies have done a godo job in snapping up most of the talent. countries that have nationalised oil fields have seen a drop in production (like, cough cough, Venezuela) see also: Libya, Iraq, Iran.

how is it that Venezuela, with the 6th largest crude deposits in the world (the largest, if you include the more expensive to handle ultraheavy crude deposits; following Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, Indonesia, Qatar) has seen dropping production under since the nationalisation of oil field production has commenced? Look at the countries with nationalised oil on that list: Indonesia, Qatar, Iran, Russia) all underperform in terms of oil production (Saudi Arabia is an interesting case, the fields are nationalised, but run by the joint venture ARAMCO to good effect) ten years ago, PdVSA was well run, and investment in oil and gas production was high. now it is run by cronies (guess who runs the shipping arm of PdVSA? Chavez's cousin. surely well qualified. and the sales division? his brother. quite a talented family)

and who, pray tell, will be running the Cerro Negro without the companies who built it and the infrastructure to refine it? Anecdotally, PdVSA is offering new contracts to the skilled workers in the field at 50%-75% pay cuts. And that's the local talent, which, anecdotally, is in high demand in places like the oil sands of Alberta. would you take a 75% pay cut if someone else was offering you a raise? Did you know that Venezuela imports gasoline? why? because 75% of the refining capacity for the strangely heavy crude from the Orinoco Belt is in Texas and Louisiana. It will take tens of billions of dollars of investment to regain the production of the multi-nationals. Chavez does have a company waiting in the wings to take over from the Western ones, if need be, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Of course, CNPC has something in common with George Bush, they can't find oil in an oil field. Their current contracts in Venezuela have not panned out, in 1997 they signed a deal to increase production in the Caracoles region, with proven reserves of 210+ million barrels. So far, they have increased production from 14,000 bbls to 21,000 bbls (per day) despite a plan to produce 50,000 bbls/day by 2002. and PdVSA's latest investment? a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline to Brazil. only problem? Brazil doesn't use much natural gas, and is, in fact, basically energy independant. Oil fields are capital intensive operations, both financial capital and human capital, Chavez is driving both away. National oil companies do a remarkably bad job at managing resources unless there is serious independance from the national government, which isn't the case here. This is a bad move for Venezuela. Yes, they are making a lot of money, given the high prices of oil, but they could be making so much more.

[AllexxisF1]

15. Who said they need a bump in production?

So they produce less that just means they make more for each barrell. Moreover Russia is now the leading producer in the entire world and are'nt they state run?

[northzax]

17. good philosophy

I suppose that if they keep cutting production, their revenues will continue to increase! it's brilliant! we should totally try that with the US tax code. oh wait, we did.

Yes, Russia is the largest producer of crude, due to the Saudis cutting production under OPEC rules. Gazprom is a state owned firm, but the lucrative fields are being developed by ExxonMobil, BP and Total for the most part. There is little doubt that the Saudis could ramp up production to pass Russia, if they so chose.

and when you are poor, like Venezuela is, and you have record prices for an asset, doesn't it make sense to produce as much as possible? not less? of course, from a global standpoint, decreased production simply increases prices and leads to increased pressure to find alternatives. this is a lesson the Saudis learned in the 70s. Venezuela should really be making hay while the sun shines, from a domestic standpoint, don't you think?

[hunter]

37. This ain't the 'seventies anymore.

The hay making season is over, and the sun won't shine again so long as we depend upon oil.

It's the end game now, not another business cycle. The house is on fire and the major players are grabbing up everything that's not bolted down and running away as soon as their greed is satiated. A lot of 'em are going to burn.

[ryanmuegge]

22. Excellent post. Thanks for interjecting fact into the Chavez love-fest.

[Flanker]

28. You know nothing of Venezuelan production

"Did you know that Venezuela imports gasoline? why? because 75% of the refining capacity for the strangely heavy crude from the Orinoco Belt is in Texas and Louisiana."

This is utter nonsense, Venezuela refines most of its own crude PRODUCTION, let alone consumption.

I do like seeing the privatization zealots squirm.

PS you contradict yourself you praise SA yet you also say they have lower production becuase of OPEC, well guess what so does all the NOCs you mentioned.

[northzax]

31. um, you might want to look into your numbers

PdVSA owns or operates 24 refineries. 6 in Venezuela, 8 in the US, 9 in Europe and 1 in the Caribbean. Domestic refining capacity is 550,000 bbls/day from a reported production (most people are skeptical of the numbers) 3.1 million bbls/day (the International Energy Agency says it is closer to 2.6 million bbls/day)

in case you are skeptical about Venezuela's ability to increase domestic refining, a law passed in 2004 (the Hydrocarbons Law) allows foreign companies who build new refineries inside Venezuela to own "up to 100 percent" of the facility and simply pay royalties to the government. Does this sound like a company capable of building new refineries themselves? and do you think anyone will take PdVSA up on that offer now?

If things go on the way they are, Venezuela's oil production in 2012 will be lower than the official numbers today. you can bank on it. Of course, they are already lower than the official numbers. You can listen to the official numbers, or you can look at the actual data, they don't match up. You can listen to one government agency giving reports without auditing or backup data of any sort, or you can listen to the great majority of analysts who don't believe those numbers. Even OPEC doesn't believe them, since Venezuela's OPEC quota is 3m bbls/day, and the government is reporting production of 3.3m bbls/day, in violation of that agreement. So why don't the other OPEC nations care that Venezuela is busting their quota? because they know that it isn't true there are credible reports that PdVSA had to BUY $5b in oil from GAZPROM last year to meet contracts.

in the words of Rafael Ramirez, "PDVSA es roja, rojita de arriba a abajo." we shall see.

[Flanker]

45. Wait about the nonsense that it imports Gasoline then?

Heh? Venezuelan production is on the quota line, the thing is most external estimates only account for Crude oil as opposed to Crude + Synthetic + Orimulsion + NGL + condensates.

Their production is 3-3.2 mmbd and it should increase capacity to 5.8 mmbd by 2012 under its own.

Venezuela bought from Russia because PDVSA is an energy trader, it is cheaper to ship from Russia to Germany than from Venezuela to Germany.

[northzax]

46. really? cheaper to buy at $70/bbl than pump and ship?

bullshit. but hey, you buy that line if you want. they never had to do it before, but now that prices are at record highs, it is cheaper to buy locally than ship? ok.

if you think capacity will increase, when everyone else says it won't, you believe that too. Increasing capacity takes investment, and the government is not investing in expanding capacity. this was what the contracts were for, and those contracts are gone. do you expect multinationals to continue to invest money under those circumstances?

when a government (or any single entity) says one thing, and everyone else says something different, it makes me skeptical-

[Flanker]

48. TRADE

"bullshit. but hey, you buy that line if you want. they never had to do it before, but now that prices are at record highs, it is cheaper to buy locally than ship? ok."

It is cheaper to TRADE!!! Venezuela and Russia/USSR have ALWAYS traded oil, Are you honestly that naive to believe the Soviets shipped oil to Cuba from so far away? nope it was always Venezuelan oil, that was traded to Russia for its oil. PDVSA is an energy trader as well.

"if you think capacity will increase, when everyone else says it won't, you believe that too. Increasing capacity takes investment, and the government is not investing in expanding capacity. this was what the contracts were for, and those contracts are gone. do you expect multinationals to continue to invest money under those circumstances?"

Of course money is being invested, the problem is you do not follow the Venezuelan industry, those same sources also fuck up production data even when it stares them in the face.

"when a government (or any single entity) says one thing, and everyone else says something different, it makes me skeptical- "

When everybody else doesn't have a clue what the fuck they are talking about it makes me skeptical.

[northzax]

49. ok, you're right

you have convinced me to believe a single government's reports in the face of just about every knowlegable energy analyst in the world who is talking publically about this. Sure, it's their job to know about such things, but you know more. The people who do this for a living don't have a clue what they are talking about, I guess. I mean, why trust the experts, when the government says differently?

tell me, when just about every independant reasonable expert in the world says something, and a government says something else, why not believe the government? we all know governments never lie, right? When, say, the Bush administration says Climate Change isn't a problem, and every reasonable expert in the world says it is, why listen to the experts? As the Bushies will tell you, they don't 'have a clue what the fuck they are talking about'

faith is such a wonderful thing.

[ToeBot]

29. So your saying they can't find someone else to run their field's because they're inefficient?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Pab Sungenis]

5. Private industry is NOT automatically better than government owned, either.

If the people of Venezuela aren't getting a fair enough share from those using their resources, then it's time for their government to intervene.

I wish our government would intervene more with the abuse of OUR natural resources, like those exploiting governemnt owned lands and national parks.

[Strelnikov_]

11. Yea, look where those Saudi's have gone since they took their fields back

in the 70's.

Their production just dried up and went away.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Took back their own fields, you say! Well, I guess they've been taught a lesson. n/t

[Igel]

14. You know, the Arabic class I took last fall had a perk.

We all got Saudi-Aramco recruitment folders in English and Arabic. One of the students spent much of her childhood in Arabia, and her father finally got promoted stateside.

There's constant resentment at the gated communities that expats--largely American and British--have in Sa'udi Arabia. Why?

Because the Sa'udis may have claimed control, but they're not stupid. They still rely on a lot of Western contractors and offer very good wages for Westerners that are willing to work for them, design refineries, and do all the tech work that their own people don't do.

However, it's looking like the Sa'udi influence is screwing things up a bit, even as they put out contracts to western companies to come and develop new oil fields.

[Nederland]

26. Agreed

But this is not about who is better, it is about trust. The bottom line is that Chavez can't do everything on his own. He has to deal with other countries and multinationals to buy equipment, do analysis and engineering, and ultimately, sell the oil. If he totally screws those big oil companies out of their contracts, no-one will trust him and he will pay a premium on every business transaction he conducts from here on out.

Personally, I don't think he's that stupid and this is merely a publicity stunt. The ownership is merely symbolic. The real question is who gets the money. If Cheveron and the others are still making money in the country they don't really give a shit who "owns" the fields. As the article implies, there is some intense negotiations going on behind the scenes, and I don't imagine the Chavez has as much clout in those negotiations as he would like you to believe.

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. In this case, the private property is that of multi-nationals that suck

the profits out of the nation. And the Venezuelan government has PLENTY of experience at running oilfields, seeing as they own the majority of the oilfield in the country already.

I believe the government SHOULD own critical natural resources, held in trust for the people - much the same as here the government owns the vast majority of forest land as national forests.

Chavez is defending his nation's sovereignity against the extra-national entities of big oil. I say more power to him.

[partylessinOhio]

7. Viva Chavez! We need to do the same to Big Oil in this country.

The natural resources of all countries should belong to the people. I don't support making billionaires out of greedy persons like Cheney and the Bush family.

[anotherdrew]

8. BUT - they're not "seizures of private property" n/t

[northzax]

10. no, they are forced buyouts of contracts

technically.

[brooklynite]

21. Check the article again

All but ConocoPhillips have agreed in principle to state control, and Venezuela has warned it may expropriate that company's assets if it doesn't follow suit.

[anotherdrew]

23. sounds like they might initiate eminent domain proceedings, something we do even in the US at times

ConocoPhillips has nothing to worry about, their investments can still make them plenty of money, they just need to play ball with the democratically elected representative government of the country.

This is a far cry from Nazi's coming in and stealing your art and valuables.

[northzax]

25. it's not emminent domain

it's more like the government abrogating contracts. in the mid nineties, the government signed 25 year development contracts with several companies. notably, the only one not being abrogated is the one with the CNPC, the lowest producing field. strange.

[Skink]

13. One small step for man one giant Leap toward freedom.

[Megahurtz]

16. ROFL!

:rofl:

I definitely have to say Viva Chavez!!!:7

[Judi Lynn]

18. I'll never understand how some right-wingers have become so befuddled

they can't separate their own affairs from the exploitation by American companies of people in other countries.

Venezuelans have signaled a long time ago they want control of their own resources. THEY are the ones who should make the decisions, not some right-wing tools in the States with a wildly tangled sense of ethics.

Everyone is NOT supposed to drop 'em, and bend over just because they've got something someone here wants. Life is going to teach these idiots a needed lesson one way or another.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

19. Deleted.

Leave it to CNN to have two titles for an article.

[hunter]

20. This is the end of U.S. empire.

We ourselves are now rotting away from the infection of corrupt right wing government that we spread throughout Latin America.

Despise Hugo Chavez or not, he knows what we are more than we know ourselves. We may still see a pretty face in the mirror, but the Latin American people who survived our reign of terror see a crippled old robber-baron, and they won't hesitate to have us bidding against the rest of the world for their oil.

[Nederland]

24. Read between the lines

It's not about whether or government is more or less efficient than private industry, it's about trust. The key for Chavez here is to not to total screw over the big multinational oil companies. I know that many people here would love to see those oil companies get screwed over, but even Chavez can't afford to do that. Like it or not, they are the ones that understand this business and you need their help if you want to make any money off your oil.

No, this is about trust. If Chavez totally screws over the company's that previously owned these assets, no other oil company will touch Venezula with a 10 foot poll. Chavez knows this, and that's why in reality this in nothing but a PR stunt. Just read this line from the article:

Chevron's future in Venezuela "will very much be dependent on how we're treated in the current negotiation," said David O'Reilly, chief executive of the San Ramon, Calif.-based company. "That process is going to have a direct impact on our appetite going forward."

Those are not the words of a person in a weak position. He knows he holds the cards here and is basically saying, "if you treat us like shit we are going to walk". If Chevron et al walk away, Chavez is screwed in the long run. Sure, he can keep the lights on for a few years, but eventually he is going to need help from the people that really know this business--and those people work for big oil, not Chavez.

[conspirator]

27. Venezuela has the oil and is not in a weak position either

There are plenty of countries and companies that want it.

[Nederland]

30. Sure

There are lots of countries and companies that want it, but how many are going to be willing to play the role of chump just like the last set of companies that cut a deal with the Venezulan government?

[Bandit]

32. The only chumps are those dealing with America and it's treaty breaches.

Name one country that has benefited from dealing with America. When I say a country I am referring to it's people and not it's aristocracy...How exactly have Arabs benefited from the loss of their oil? If the people had truly benefited their would not be so much world wide hatred of America and it's global theft of resources..

[Nederland]

34. South Korea

South Korea is basically tied to the hip with the US and its people are far far better off today than they were in 1950. In a single generation South Korea went from being a third world country to the 11th largest economy in the world with world class manufacturing and development sectors. And yes, with a healthy dynamic middle class it is clear that the entire population benefited, not just the rich. It accomplished this after establishing tight trading ties with United States that were a natural result of the outcome of the Korean war.

The same could be said of Japan.

[hunter]

38. I'm enjoying the "America is Great!" cheerleading in this thread.

Do you have an example that's, um, a little more recent than South Korea?

When do you suppose Iraq will qualify?

(Or even a little place like Haiti...)

[Nederland]

39. What do you mean, more recent?

Here is the list of the top US trading partners in 2006, in order:

1) Canada
2) China
3) Mexico
4) Japan
5) Federal Republic of Germany
6) United Kingdom
7) Korea, South
8) Taiwan
9) France
10) Singapore

source: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/top/dst/2006/12/balance.html

Eight of these ten are wealthy countries with healthy middle classes.

So let's review the original claim (from post #32):

Name one country that has benefited from dealing with America.

The above list compromises the top ten countries that deal with America, and eight of them are benefiting quite well thank you. The point is this: how a country is affected by tight economic ties with the America is dependant on THEM, not US. If the country chooses to implement policies that help spread the wealth around, that country will develop a healthy middle class. If they don't (China and Mexico being good examples), the money that comes from trading with the US will go only to the rich.

In other words, it's their fault, not ours. Don't blame the US for Mexico's skewed distribution of wealth. Blame Mexico.

[hunter]

44. Our middle class ain't so healthy.

Things are already bad and getting worse. We are quickly on the way to becoming another Mexico, with the funny inflating currency and everything.

There are more and more random corners of the United States that actually look a lot like Mexico, with broken infrastructure, ad-hoc repairs to roads and utilities, decrepit public school classrooms, etc. And it's home grown poverty -- kids who are worse off than their U.S. born parents and grandparents were.

[Nederland]

52. True

But we are not talking about the US middle class. :shrug:

[hunter]

53. It will follow that we won't be so attractive as trading partners...

... as the middle class fades away.

The crunch will tell in natural gas trading I think. We won't have what it takes to attract LNG tankers to our ports and that's when the true nature of the second-world-nation-in-the-fancy-first-world-clothes will be revealed.

[conspirator]

40. 1) Japanese and Koreans would not accept the exploitation and mass murder that the US

has commited in South America.

2) Korea and Japan dont have significant oil reserves if any.

3) Southern hemisphere countries are a different reality altogether. They have rejected what you call "Civilization" and its their right to do so.

4) Saying that Japan is only a great country because it trades with the US is a laughable matter.
Say that to a japanese. The boom in the Korean economy is probably more related with the japanese
economy than the american.

5) I hope you make a good profit with your oil shares. Bush will help you

[Nederland]

42. You are confused

1) Japanese and Koreans would not accept the exploitation and mass murder that the US has committed in South America.

I guess that whole atomic bomb thing doesn't count, huh? <snicker>

4) Saying that Japan is only a great country because it trades with the US is a laughable matter.
Say that to a japanese.

I never said that. In fact I believe the opposite. The reality is that whether or not a country benefits from tight economic ties with the US depends largely on what policies they implement, not anything the US does. Japan and South Korea managed to allow their entire countries to benefit from US trade relations because they are smart, progressive countries. Culturally, South America has an extremely rigid class system that prevents spreading the wealth around. I have a sister who lives in Brazil for example, and the bottom line in that country is that unless you are born into a certain class, your ability to start your own business and get a leg up is virtually nil. It's a subtle sort of discrimination that insures that the rich will always remain the bosses and the poor will always remain the workers.

[conspirator]

43. About the atomic bomb:

there was a war. And the war ended in 1945. Right? Has the US slaughtered any japanese lately?
In south america the war continues as we speak with separatist militias sponsored by the US elite.

[northzax]

50. 'the loss of their oil'?

you mean the selling of it? Well, the Saudis, Kuwaitis and other Southern Gulf states went from nomadic goat herders 70 years ago to some of the wealthiest countries in the world from the 'loss of their oil' seems like a decent trade. I think your average Saudi or Kuwaiti would think they are better off.

[leftwingnut]

41. Fuck Chevron...if they don't want the oil...

another company will come along and take it...

Chevron's "hand" is a bluff.

[Nederland]

54. You are wrong

Yes, many other companies will be interested in the oil, but there will be a premium to be paid by Venezuela. Anytime an international company cuts a deal with a country, they look at the history of that country's business dealings to see if they can be trusted to keep their promises. What Chavez has done here is demonstrate that he cannot be trusted. That does not necessarily mean that nobody will be interested in dealing with Venezuela, or even that nobody will do business with them, it merely means that they will attach a premium to whatever price they would normally expect to compensate for the extra risk of dealing with a party that has a proven record of reneging on contracts.

[Freddie Stubbs]

33. So now that Venezuela is part of 'Big Oil', will we see gas prices drop?

:shrug:

[CRH]

35. Sorry Freddie prices won't drop for us, ...

and viewing our Latin American foreign policy, and the karma it has bred, why should Venezuela subsidize the US over consumption of world resources.

But, in Venezuela the price of gasoline is about 30 cents a gallon, sold to the citizens at production cost. When was the last time you bought gas in Texas, the Gulf states, or central California, at production cost?

[Judi Lynn]

36. Chavez's Not-So-Radical Oil Move

Chavez's Not-So-Radical Oil Move
Tuesday, May. 01, 2007 By TIM PADGETT/MIAMI



Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (center) operates
an oil rig, near Independencia, Venezuela.
Miraflores / EPA

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has a garish knack for making the world think he's the most radical of radicals. So when the left-wing, anti-U.S. leader ascended a raucous stage in front of a petrochemical plant in eastern Venezuela today — May Day, the leftiest day of the year — and announced his government's takeover of the nation's lucrative heavy oil industry, it sent the usual panic through Washington and the international media. "It's national power!" shouted Chavez, who controls the hemisphere's largest crude reserves. "We can't have socialism if the state doesn't have control over its resources!"

But the truth — one that both Chavez and his archfoe, the Bush Administration, would prefer you not know — is that when it comes to oil nationalization, Hugo is hardly the most radical of his global peers. In fact, even after today's petro-theatrics, Chavez is just catching up with the rest of the pack.

From Mexico to China, more than 75% of the world's oil reserves are controlled by national oil companies today. Of the world's top 20 oil-producing firms, 14 are state-run. And even though Chavez has now stripped foreign oil companies like Exxon Mobil of any majority stakes they had in Venezuelan oil production projects — mandating that his state-run company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), have at least 60% ownership from here on out — he's at least allowing those private multinationals to continue taking part in the drilling. Not so, for example, in Mexico or the world's largest oil producer, Saudi Arabia. Washington touts those two countries as model energy allies, despite the fact that for more than half a century their national oil companies have barred U.S. and other foreign oil businesses from production ventures.

Apart from his fiery rhetoric, what makes Chavez's move seem more jarring is the fact that, until he came to power in 1999, Venezuela had been a trend-bucking oasis for Big Oil. Venezuela did nationalize its oil industry in 1976, but in the 1990s it had steadily re-opened its fields to foreign investment — in some cases handing the multinationals deals that even conservative Venezuelans considered too sweet. Chavez has just as steadily, and stridently, reversed that policy, paring down the multinationals' ownership while ratcheting up their taxes and royalties. And because Venezuela is America's fourth-largest foreign crude supplier — providing the U.S. with almost 15% of its oil imports — each turn of his nationalization screw tends to provoke outsized alarm.
(snip/...)

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1616644,00.html

[1932]

47. The government has increased it's ownership by less than 20% on most of these

fields, and they were operating pretty efficiently before the government increased its ownership.

I don't see how that 20% is going to destoy efficiency.

[Judi Lynn]

51. Tricking people into actually thinking about it, and doing their homework is the hard part.

Otherwise, they graze blissfully upon the propaganda handed them from the corporate media, and remain completely, wildly misinformed.

It's an old game, having been in operation for decades, sadly. By the time they often find out what was really happening, it's so much later, they can't be moved to care, anyway, as in the rape and murder of hundreds of thousands of Americans in North and Central America and the Caribbean since the 1950's.

[northzax]

55. because it reduces control

let's say you and I go into business together. you have capital and knowledge, I have the stuff to make widgets. we start off as a 51-49 partnership, you invest money to make better widgets, and we split the money 51-49, you have control of day to day operations, since you are bringing the money and the know-how to the table. you pick the best widgets to make and the places it makes the most sense to invest your money, you, in fact, are taking all the financial risk and running the operations, I sit back and collect my 49 widgets a month to sell. everyone's happy. soon, we are making 200 widgets a month, you get 102 of them, I get 98 of them. good for us both, right?

wait, now I want the 102 widgets, and you get 98. since I have the stuff to make them, I am now going to appoint my uncle Jim to run the widget factory and make the decisions. are you still going to be eager to invest money in a faciltiity you have no control over?