Venezuela secures $33.5 bln investments from Japan

[EFerrari]

Source: Today (MediaCorp)

Venezuela secures $33.5 bln investments from Japan
Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 8-Apr-2009 00:10 hrs
Venezuelan Pesident Hugo Chavez speaks at a press conference in Tokyo hotel. Chavez Tuesday said he secured 33.5 billion dollars in Japanese oil and gas project investments.


Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Tuesday said he secured 33.5 billion dollars in Japanese oil and gas project investments.
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The two countries plan to cooperate in 12 projects including in the Orinoco Belt, a hydrocarbon reservoir located in eastern Venezuela.
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"Japan needs oil. Venezuela wants to diversify its market. Japan is ideal for us," Chavez told reporters in Tokyo.
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The 33.5 billion investment from Japanese companies will include 8.0 billion dollars over the next five years in a block of the Orinoco Belt, said Chavez.


Read more: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/312541.asp

[redqueen]

1. I thought his policies would hurt investment in Venezuela.

Isn't that the conservative talking point?

Do what he's doing, and investors will flee?

[EFerrari]

2. I guess the Japanese don't care what the wingers think!

[Judi Lynn]

3. Oh, yeah! It's true or those trolls wouldn't have posted it.

That means this is probably some elaborate charade they're going through to mislead the world!

This is interesting.

All Venezuela had going for the majority earlier was a bunch of sweetheart deals offering wildly sweet deals to US multinationals, and NO benefits to the poor of Venezuela.

[EFerrari]

4. I guess China doesn't listen to wingers either:

Venezuela's Chavez: 3 Objectives For Deeper China Energy Ties
3 hours ago

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday he had three strategic energy objectives in his latest visit to China, the first being how to arrange for Chinese oil companies working in his country to boost their oil output and supply China with 1 million barrels a day by 2013.

Speaking on arrival in Beijing for a three-day visit, his sixth to China since taking power, he said the second was to review the status of a planned joint venture oil refinery to be built in China, "which is nearly ready to be launched."

The third is the creation of a bilateral Venezuela-China oil shipping company, he told journalists.

Venezuela and China have signed several energy cooperation agreements over the past year, the latest being on Feb. 18, when Beijing agreed to a further $6 billion cash infusion into a bilateral development fund, and state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, agreed to sell an additional 80,000 to 200,000 barrels of oil a day to PetroChina Co. (PTR).

http://news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=20090407009262

Damn that Chavez! Ruining Venezuela -- for the US oil cabal.

[LuvNewcastle]

5. I love how they say "since taking power."

Yeah he just took power -- there wasn't any election or anything.

[Judi Lynn]

8. That's so interesting, now that China is involved in Carabobo oil, since that area

has been in a huddle with _Bush people in Washington over the last few years while they discussed ways to secede from Venezuela, taking oil profits with them.

Now that the Chinese government is settling in for the long term in Carabobo, Zulia will eventually NOT be dominated by US multinationals, and the right-wing radical separatist leader there are going to be up the creek without a paddle, since so much of their own state's product will NOT be under US control any longer.

Really, REALLY interesting.

Thanks for these articles.

[pampango]

6. Interesting both that Venezuela needs foreign investment in oil and gas, rather

than using funds from it's domestic oil revenue, and that Japan does trust Chavez not to nationalize its oil and gas facilities once they start to produce. You're right, he obviously has not driven away foreign investment.

[EFerrari]

7. I don't know anything about the oil business. Could encouraging

this particular foreign investment be a way to encourage other kinds of business with Japan as well?

[redqueen]

9. I'm surprised the usual contingent of those who enjoy backing up

that particular rightwing talking point have not shown up yet.

Hm... maybe they won't this time. :shrug:

[dipsydoodle]

13. They're part timers

They sleep on Tuesdays.

[Tempest]

10. All countries use foreign investment to develop their oil and gas reserves

The U.S. makes deals with British Petroleum to develop reserves in the Gulf of Mexico and production of oil in California.

[pampango]

14. I thought so. My point was that a policy of nationalization of foreign facilities,

unless done wisely, can inhibit foreign investment in production facilities which, as you say, is customary in developing oil and gas production. Chavez must be doing the nationalizations "wisely" to continue to attract foreign investment.

[Tempest]

22. Chavez nationalized the industry, and then opened it back up to bidding

In effect, he broke the stranglehold foreign companies had on his country and then put forward contract terms that were fair to Venezuela. He was undoing the damage done by a succession of U.S. puppet governments in the country.

Only one oil company (Shell, I think) didn't bid. All the others did.

[Warren Stupidity]

24. I believe that was the stated intention all along.

The existing contracts were wildly lopsided in favor of the global corporations.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Chavez Says Venezuela Wants to Diversify Oil Sales

Posted on Apr. 07, 2009

By Patrick Harrington

Chavez Says Venezuela Wants to Diversify Oil Sales

From Bloomberg

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said investment deals signed with Japan and China are helping his country diversify oil sales away from the U.S., the South America nation’s biggest overseas market.

Venezuela secured $8 billion of investment in its Orinoco oil belt over five years from Japanese companies, Chavez told reporters in Tokyo today. Total investment from Japan will reach $35.5 billion, he said without giving a time frame.

Chavez is on a tour to secure energy investments after declining oil prices forced him to cut government spending in March. He met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week and will travel to China after concluding a two-day visit to Japan today, where he met with Prime Minster Taro Aso.

“Japan needs oil,” Chavez said. “Venezuela wants to diversify its market.”

More:
http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=1555

[Judi Lynn]

12. Venezuela and Japan to Study Petchem Investments

Venezuela and Japan to Study Petchem Investments

11:42 AM EDT | April 7, 2009 | Kara Sissell
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and the government of Japan have signed 12 bilateral agreements to study the feasibility of Japanese firms investing in energy, infrastructure and petrochemical projects in Venezuela.

The petchem projects include a memorandum of understanding between Venezuelan state petrochemical company Pequiven (Caracas) and Japan’s Marubeni to study olefins and polyethylene joint ventures at the Ana María Campos petrochemical complex on Lake Maracaibo in western Venezuela, a new fertilizer complex at the Jose petrochemical complex in the eastern Anzoátegui state, and a refinery complex in Paraguaná, according to the state-owned Bolivarian News Agency.

Another memorandum of understanding between Pequiven and Mitsui will study possible financial instruments for funding petrochemical projects that would include “Mitsui’s participation in said projects,” although the government did not provide specifics.

A third agreement between Pequiven and Mitsubishi will “study the possibility of establishing petrochemical projects for production and commercialization of products including ammonia, urea, methanol, and polyolefins at Jose,” according to the news agency

http://www.chemweek.com/home/top_of_the_news/feature.html

[endarkenment]

15. Happy to K&R this for the head explosion factor alone.

[RedCloud]

16. Carlos Andrés Pérez nationalized VZLA's petro in 1976!

That's what the world was told. So they forgot to say but 5,000 gringos still live in Coro, Estado Falcón, Venezuela as oil workers.

So why all the crap about Chávez wanting to increase the royalty that Venezuela was getting from their allegedly nationalized petroleum to still under 30%? You don't suppose we were all lied to, do you?

You don't suppose they only nationalized the names of each company, not its assets, do you?

Why that would make us the liars of the century!

[EFerrari]

17. Do we have serious competition?

lol

[RedCloud]

18. Part 2 (Pre oil company propaganda!)

«President Carlos Andrés Pérez assumed office in 1974 in what seemed a fortuitous time for Venezuela. The nation was a leading producer of oil, and the price had increased from $2 a barrel in 1970 to $14 in 1974, in the aftermath of the Arab oil embargo of 1973 and the global energy shortage. Venezuela presumably would now have the income to diversify its economy, create a modern industrial state, and uplift the conditions of the poor. President Pérez immediately announced that Venezuela would use its new power to nationalize the oil industry. Venezuela paid the American and British-Dutch oil companies, which had operated in Venezuela since the 1920s, approximately $1 billion for their properties, and on January 1, 1976, took control of the industry.»

http://www.answers.com/topic/p-rez-rodr-guez-carlos-andr-s

[Judi Lynn]

19. Not certain, but I believe he raised an ADDITIONAL 30%.

Venezuela nationalized oil and steel in 1973.

Don't have time to stay, on my way out, can look more later, but I did see this which may pertain or not:

Venezuela to impose excess profit tax to boost social programs

13:26 | 17/ 04/ 2008

MEXICO CITY, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuela's parliament has adopted a law to introduce an excess profit tax for oil producers to boost social development amid soaring global oil prices, Mexican media said on Thursday.

Oil prices hit a successive record high of $114.08 per barrel on global markets on Wednesday.

"The special tax revenue to be managed by the country's president will be channeled into the development of the social sector, industries, and programs to strengthen regional authorities," the new law says.

Under the law, the tax will be set at 50% if an oil barrel costs $70-100, and 60% at over $100 per barrel.

The excess profit tax is expected to yield up to $9 billion from the country's oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and foreign oil producers active in the country.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez placed his country's oil industry under total government control when he came to power in 1999. Venezuela has raised oil tax for foreign companies from 16.6% to 30% since 2005, and nationalized all private oil projects last year.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20080417/105298391.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've surely seen Venezuela's new share of oil profits expressed around 60% for a long time.

I believe they're saying he has raised an ADDITIONAL amount of 16% to 30%. Someone will straighten this out, no doubt.

[RedCloud]

20. What I got from Greg Palast was 29%

That was a few years ago. My point is that CAP (Pérez) nationalized the oil industry after forking over more than $1,000,000,000 at the start of 1976.

What we see from wing nut ville is that Chávez is nationalizing when in fact he cannot be, otherwise Pérez (which I strongly suspect) used the nationalization announcement to hide that money with his oil buddies who went about business as usual but under a new name.

Pérez was President of Venezuela and has squirreled away much money while President for those that don't know.

In your other posts Judy you mention Carabobo oil which is in the eastern part of Venezuela and Zulia where the big time oil companies are next to Colombia. Is this a two prong attack by the cons?

All in all, Chávez is a very active president and working deals out with other countries should come as no surprise. While W was playing Iraq to the max, Chávez organized Brasil, Trinidad, Ecuador and a few other areas to create an energy consortium for South America. He was negotiating a pipeline through Colombia for the oil to reach China and effectively avoid the Panama Canal. It seems he went to a great deal of trouble to call Bush's every bluff.

Time will tell if our current President will respond more favorably.

For those who have forgotten, Chávez offered aid, medicine and doctors immediately after Katrina while Bush was busy cutting a cake with McCain. That tells me which President is more into helping people.

[EFerrari]

21. Two pronged attack -- you bet, and it hasn't stopped yet.

Chavez is still under attack by the Mark Penns of the world as well as by Hillary Clinton who seems to mistake him for that butcher Uribe every time she talks about Venezuela.

People severely underestimate Hugo Chavez. He is plain spoken but a brilliant innovator and he surrounds himself with real leaders in the way no small minded power grabber could do with confidence. He has united South America and reached out beyond that with great success. That's why he's hated by the Washington Consensus and why we even know his name -- from the smears.

[redqueen]

23. Oh and the failed coup against him...

that's another reason we know his name.

If they'd have succeeded, though...