I think we're going to be hearing some complaints about Japan and Venezuela
...and mainly from the Obama Admin, the Obamabot nation, the GOP, and any other hawk-minded folks of other ideological views.
It seems that Japan and Venezuela have just created a large national partnership for the purpose of pulling oil from Venezuela's Orinoco belt, and refining that oil. Several large Japanese companies are going to help with the renovation of Venezuela's refinery businesses and facilities.
Think about this. We have just witnessed an Administration that catered openly to, and caused the American government and its military forces to act as proxy for, the oil industry. We're still in Iraq! So the continuity regarding fascism where oil businesses are concerned, it's intact under Obama because he's not doing a thing to change the course in Iraq, and he's banging war drums toward other nations where oil is a commodity (i.e. Iran, Somalia) or where the geographic location is strategic for oil extraction, refining or transport (i.e., Afghanistan).
So I think it's safe to say the American government will do Big Oil's bidding if Big Oil feels threatened.
Hugo Chavez thumbed his nose at Big Oil consistently while Bush was POTUS. And now that Obama's in office, Chavez enters into this massive national partnership not with the USA, but with Japan.
And Japan is a huge creditor of the US Govt.
Add it up, reader.
But first, read this from Venezuela Analysis. Reprinted in full; link here.
Japan and Venezuela Initiate Joint Orinoco Oil Projects and Expand Economic TiesOkay, so did you catch that last paragraph?
April 6th 2009, by James Suggett – Venezuelanalysis.com
Mérida,April 6th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - Venezuelan and Japanese officials met in Tokyo on Sunday and Monday to create mixed enterprises to exploit Venezuela's Orinoco Oil Belt. The officials also planned future economic collaboration in the areas of finance, infrastructure, agriculture, automobile production, and oil-based chemical products.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the heads of Venezuela's Ministries of Foreign Relations, Commerce, Tourism, Agriculture and Lands, and Energy and Petroleum met with their Japanese counterparts as well as the Confederation of Japanese Business Associations to discuss how Venezuela and Japan can complement each other's import and export needs.
"We came to re-establish a strategic economic, social, and technological alliance with this country that possesses great scientific advancements and which needs energy that we can help to supply," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez upon his arrival in Tokyo on Sunday.
"Japan is interested in diversifying the sources of its oil supply, while Venezuela wants to diversify the market for oil exportation," he said.
Japanese spokesperson Takachi Kondo also expressed enthusiasm for an expanded relationship between Venezuela and Japan. "President Chávez is very well-known to the Japanese people and with this visit surely we are going to boost our integration and extend the friendship between our two countries," said Kondo.
During the visit, Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA initiated joint projects with Japan's national oil, gas, and metals corporation JOGMEC and several private Japanese firms to extract and refine oil in Venezuela's Orinoco Oil Belt, which is estimated to have the world's second largest crude oil reserves.
To help Venezuela refine more of its extra-heavy crude domestically, the Japanese firms Mitsubishi, Marubeni, and Itochu will finance the renovation of Venezuelan refineries, according to the Bolivarian News Agency. Also, Venezuela's state petro-chemical company PEQUIVEN will study the potential to expand production of oil-based fertilizers and plastics in team with Marubeni and Mitsubishi.
Venezuelan Energy and Petroleum Minister Rafael Ramírez, who accompanied Chávez in Japan and signed the energy accords, said, "By entering into this [Orinoco] bloc, Japan automatically assures its supply for at least 25 years."
Chávez said Venezuela could potentially export a million barrels per day to Japan, starting with 100,000 barrels per day this year. He also said Venezuela could begin to export natural gas to Japan within three years.
Japan is among dozens of countries, including Argentina, Brazil, China, Italy, Iran, the United States, Russia and others whose state and private corporations have signed on as minority partners in Orinoco projects since PDVSA purchased the majority share of the Orinoco reserves in 2007.
Chávez has made clear that by signing bi-lateral accords with all of these nations, he intends to multiply the nodes of global economic power and forge a "pluri-polar world" that is not dominated by the United States and U.S.-based financial institutions.
"The center of gravity of the world is moving toward the East and toward the South, and here we are," Chávez said in Japan on Sunday.
Chávez proposed the creation of a multi-billion dollar bi-national investment fund with Japan, similar to the funds Venezuela has already established with Russia, China, and Iran.
He also said he will consider converting a portion of Venezuela's international currency reserves from the dollar to the yen. "Japan uses the yen in all its operations and in addition other nations who hold their reserves in yens, so Venezuela could also consider this for its international reserves," he said.
Such a conversion would be consistent with Chávez's advocacy of an alternative international monetary standard to overcome what he calls "the dictatorship of the dollar."
In addition to energy and financial accords, Japan and Venezuela established a series of joint commissions to plan Japan's future investments in Venezuelan railway lines, highways, and housing.
Other trade-related items discussed were Venezuela's importation of Japanese medical technology and Japan's importation of Venezuelan fruits such as the coveted mango.
Spokesperson Kondo also mentioned a possible accord involving the automobile industry. "Our country exports vehicles and machinery to Venezuela, and this South American country exports oil, aluminum, and cacao to our nation," Kondo told the press.
Chávez's visit to Japan is the final leg of a week-long diplomatic tour during which Venezuela created a bi-national bank with Iran and proposed a new international currency backed by oil reserves during a summit of Arab and South American countries in Qatar.
Where was he?
Uh huh.
Watch for Susan Rice or another of her ilk, such as Samantha Power, to start calling for some form of retribution toward Qatar or Iran. A bi-national Venezuela-Iran bank? Oil power is shifting radically. I think some doo-doo is headed toward the fan.
2 Comments:
You mean, like "those silly, silly Japanese-- don't they know, if you negotiate for oil you can't do it without seeking a military resolution first?"
THERE GOES TH' NEIGHBORHOOD!
What is very ironic here concerning Japan and oil is that we provoked Japan by cutting off their oil supply prior to the U.S. entering WWII via Pearl Harbor. And now the shoe is on the other foot! Well not exactly perfectly but close enough. The U.S. is fond of pointing to other nations and saying that they will be isolated yet if the truth be told we may find we are the nation that is isolated.
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