China seals oil deal with Chavez

[Atlas]

The man has a point. To avoid an American embargo on his oil, he deals with chinese.

BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5286766.stm)

China seals oil deal with Chavez

China has secured a major energy deal during a state visit to the country by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42003000/jpg/_42003294_chavez_afp230jpg.jpg
China is looking to Hugo Chavez for more oil

Mr Chavez has repeated earlier promises to provide China, his number two customer for oil after the US, with one million barrels of oil per day by 2012.

China's booming economy has huge energy needs and Beijing is concerned about future fuel supplies.

A joint deal to build a new refinery in Venezuela with Chinese technology was also announced.

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Venezuela currently exports 155,000 barrels per day to China and will increase this to 300,000 by 2007.

Venezuela will expand its own fleet of oil tankers, with nearly half of this capacity being built in Chinese yards.

China is the world's second largest consumer of energy and is engaged in a massive diplomatic push to acquire allies who can keep it supplied. This is Mr Chavez's fourth visit to the country since 1999.

For Mr Chavez, the Chinese connection offers an opportunity to reduce Venezuela's reliance on the US market. He has courted controversy with a high profile campaign against Washington's foreign policy and spices his speeches with anti-US rhetoric.

The US still relies on Venezuela for 12% of its oil imports, but the relationship is frayed.

A huge deal to buy arms from Russia, financed by oil revenues, is the latest of Mr Chavez's attempts to underline his independence from his powerful neighbour in the north.

Mr Chavez used the trip to hail what he calls a "strategic alliance" between China and Venezuela that will meet Beijing's energy needs "today, tomorrow and always".

[Kriger]

Yes, a very wise move in the international scene.
A country can have all the oil in the world, but without a demand for it, it is relatively worthless outside of domestic consumption.
There is a bond between the seller and a buyer. The seller needs the buyer to sell. Simplistic terms, but covers the point.
The higher the demand, the more one sells. The more one sells, the more one gains economically. Simple economics, but the basis of all "trade".
While it would seem that the oil countries of the Middle East have "power" over the major oil consumers, it is not entirely one-sided.
Having the US and other western nations as their major buyers fills their coffers, and they need these buyers or the coffers do not fill.
With other countries coming to the fore with their own oil supplies and production, the Middle East oil countries face more and more competition for their own supplies. In short, they do not hold the maket on oil anymore.
China is developing into a major production country with the accompanying demand for oil. I find it ironic that the major industries in China are formerly American based companies.
Chavez has made a major supply deal with not only a major demand country, but one whose demands are increasing rapidly.
Smart leader, to say the least.

[Niko Bellic]

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42003000/jpg/_42003294_chavez_afp230jpg.jpg

What the man on the left is thinking...

"Dear God, has it come to this? I have to take this ranting little savage seriously for some oil? Now I know why Bush gets pissed off enough to invade the middle-east."

[Anarch]

So much for the Monroe Doctrine, LOL.

[Niko Bellic]

So much for the Monroe Doctrine, LOL.

Unfortunately, yes. The elite of America still believe that some grand glorious Westernization of China will occur if we continue to give away the economic goodies.

[Kodos]

LOL the Chinese guy looks like he could kill him and then the rest of his village with an icepick.

[Van Heutsz]

I don't think the Monroe doctrine can be said to apply to this specific situation. It's main purpose was to prevent other powers [then exclusively European) from meddling in the internal affairs of sovereign nations (thus excluding colonies) in the Americas. What China and Venezuela are engaging in is nothing more than the trade of commodities and I'm pretty sure restricting that was not on Adams' mind.

That having said, I do think it is a worrying development. Personally, I think it would be great if stupid countries like Scandinavia and Holland would one day publicly disavow their misguided moralist foreign policy and start working exclusively for their, and kindred nations, national interest.

[Der Sozialist]

Unfortunately, yes. The elite of America still believe that some grand glorious Westernization of China will occur if we continue to give away the economic goodies.

Are you seriously advocating nuclear war with China---the third (if not the second) most powerful country in the world---over some oil deal that will probably not influence the international market price of oil?

[Niko Bellic]

Are you seriously advocating nuclear war with China---the third (if not the second) most powerful country in the world---over some oil deal that will probably not influence the international market price of oil?

No, but I see why you might think that. That post was a bit off topic. I was speaking mainly about our trade deals with China. While the China-Venezuela thing is a bit troubling, if we had to take action against Chavez for some reason, I highly doubt China would intervene.