Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez yesterday renewed a threat to halt oil supplies to the US if Washington "hurts" the Latin American country.
Relations between Venezuela, which exports the bulk of its oil to the US, and Washington have been badly strained since Chavez last month accused Washington of plotting to have him assassinated.
"If there is any aggression, there will be no oil," Chavez, who arrived in New Delhi on a four-day visit to India, told journalists, the Press Trust of India reported.
"We want to supply oil to the US. We're not going to avoid this supply of oil unless the US government gets a little bit crazy and tries to hurt us," he said after a ceremonial welcome at the Indian president's palace.
The US State Department has dismissed Chavez's accusations that Washington is seeking to have him killed as "ridiculous and untrue."
Venezuela is the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter and is among the largest providers to the US.
Asked whether the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Venezuela is a member, will increase output to cool current near-record prices, Chavez said yesterday the cartel was "producing enough."
"[The] increasing price of oil has nothing to do with OPEC. It is the structure of the market," he said, adding OPEC was evaluating factors at work.
Crude futures rose slightly yesterday following Thursday's record surge of US$1.50, as active fund buying and supply fears continued to drive the market.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude for April delivery rose US$0.05 to US$53.62 a barrel.
Victor Shum, oil analyst in Singapore for Texas-based Purvin & Gertz, an energy consulting firm, said the surge in prices was "not consistent with supply and demand fundamentals."
"Although demand is strong, I don't think demand will exceed supply," he said.
The price surge was also supported by comments from OPEC official Adnan Shihab-Eldin of Kuwait, who said on Thursday that a major supply disruption could send crude prices to US$80 per barrel.
Oil prices are also up sharply in recent weeks due to fears that OPEC could rein in production at its upcoming meeting in Isfahan, Iran, on March 16.
However, recent signals from OPEC officials that the cartel is unlikely to cut production have failed to calm the market.
"It may take the OPEC meeting to break this surge in prices," Shum said.
Jitters about the OPEC meeting, cold weather and the weak dollar have contributed to the recent rise in oil prices, which are now 52 percent above year-ago levels.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘ONE BRIDGE’: The US president-elect met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 in Florida and the two discussed a potential Taiwan-China conflict’s implications for world peace US president-elect Donald Trump has described Taiwan as “a major issue for world peace” during a meeting with Akie Abe, the widow of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources as saying in a report yesterday. Trump met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the two discussed the Russo-Ukrainian war and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. During the meeting, Trump spoke on the implications for world peace of a potential Taiwan-China conflict, which “indicated his administration’s stance of placing importance on dealing with the situation in
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
ALLIANCE: Washington continues to implement its policy of normalizing arms sales to Taiwan and helps enhance its defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US President Joe Biden on Friday agreed to provide US$571.3 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said, while the US State Department approved the potential sale of US$265 million in military equipment. Biden had delegated to the secretary of state the authority “to direct the drawdown of up to US$571.3 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan,” the White House said in a statement. However, it did not provide specific details about this latest package, which was the third of its kind to
RSS