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Sunday, September 03, 2006

Venezuela and China -- a troubling alliance?

Marketwatch asks if we should worry about THIS...

During a visit to China last week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced several deals, including plans to export 500,000 barrels of oil per day within five years to China and the creation of joint ventures with two state-owned oil companies to produce and export crude from Venezuela's oil-rich Orinoco River basin, according to China Daily.

My answer: "HELL, YEAH!" Chavez has shown that, if he can, he'll choose to sell oil to China at a lower profit margin rather than sell it to the US. Venezuela currently exports around 1 million barrels per day to the U.S. We NEED Venezuelan oil.

I was one of the sources for the story:

Venezuela's conventional oil reserves are pegged at around 80 billion barrels, but the country believes it has some 235 billion barrels of recoverable deposits in the Orinoco Belt, according to Sean Brodrick, a contributing editor at MoneyandMarkets.com.

The reporter on the story, Myra Saefong, is as sharp as a set of steakknives and works so hard I feel like a loafer every time we touch base.

Meanwhile, I finally got back to New York and stopped by Marketwatch studios for a webcast on commodities. You can bet I talked about uranium. That broadcast will be up on the Marketwatch website next week.
Check out my new gold and energy blog at MoneyAndMarkets.com