Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent a soothing message to US motorists, saying that Venezuela is not preparing to cut off oil shipments to the US.
The socialist leader rattled oil markets when he threatened a week ago to halt shipments to the US in retaliation for Exxon Mobil Corp's success in convincing courts in the US and Europe to freeze Venezuelan assets.
"We don't have plans to stop sending oil to the United States," Chavez said on Sunday during a visit to heavy-oil projects in Venezuela's petroleum-rich Orinoco River basin that were nationalized last year.
But he added that Venezuela could cut off supplies to the US if Washington "attacks Venezuela or tries to harm us."
Chavez has repeatedly warned against a possible US invasion to seize control of Venezuela's immense oil reserves. US officials have denied any such plan exists. The US relies on Venezuela for about 10 percent of its oil imports.
The Chavez administration is locked in a legal battle with Exxon Mobil over compensation for the nationalization of one of four heavy-oil projects in the Orinoco River basin.
Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, is seeking to freeze billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets in the US and Europe to guarantee a payoff if it wins a decision by an international arbitration panel.
Last month, a British court injunction ordered the temporary freezing of up to US$12 billion in assets of state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).
Last Thursday, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Exxon Mobil was demanding more than 10 times the compensation it may deserve from Venezuela for nationalizing the oil venture.
Exxon Mobil walked away from its heavy-oil upgrading operations in the Orinoco basin after Caracas changed the terms of the contract. Other major oil firms, including the US' Chevron Corp, France's Total, Britain's BP PLC and Norway's StatoilHydro ASA, have made deals to continue on as minority partners.
The navy has installed 13 Phalanx Block 1B close-in weapons systems on its warships, increasing their defensive firepower, a defense official said on Saturday. The systems cost the navy NT$10.16 billion (US$314.67 million), while eight additional Block 1A systems are being upgraded in the US and are expected to be delivered next year, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Phalanx system used by Taiwan to defend its warships and key radar installations is a radar-cued gun system capable of firing 4,500 rounds a minute at targets as far away as 1.5km, the official said. With their superior range of
RACE FOR CHIPS: The Dresden site would help Europe reduce its reliance on Asia for semiconductors, while Germany aims to produce one-fifth of the world’s chips by 2030 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday broke ground in Dresden, Germany, on its first European plant as the continent seeks to safeguard its chip supplies amid growing US-China tensions. TSMC chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) attended the event, together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the heads of Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors NV and Robert Bosch GmbH, which each hold a 10 percent stake in the venture. TSMC owns a 70 percent stake in the plant. “Together with our partners, Bosch, Infineon and NXP, we are building our Dresden facility to meet the
RECOVERY: Overall, average income across all age groups increased, climbing to a record NT$709,000 last year, on the back of an improved economy, the DGBAS said Taiwanese workers under the age of 30 last year, on average, earned an annual income of NT$545,931 (US$17,044), a new high, as the economy continued to improve, data released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. That equated to monthly earnings of NT$45,494 per person, and marked an increase from NT$535,667 in 2022, the data showed. In addition to an improved economy, average incomes rose as the unemployment rate declined and the minimum wage rose, the statistics agency said. Overall, average income in Taiwan also hit a new record of NT$709,000 last year, up from NT$704,000 in 2022, the data
CARROT AND STICK: Palauan president said in 2020 the Chinese ambassador to a neighboring country pledged to flood his country with tourists if it switches alliance Beijing weaponized tourism to the Pacific archipelago of Palau over its allegiance to Taiwan and its accusations that China was behind a major cyberattack there, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr told The Associated Press (AP). Palau, along with Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, is one of the three Pacific nations to recognize Taiwan as an independent democracy. Taipei’s allies in the Pacific have dwindled from six countries in 2019. Nauru abandoned its ties in January. Whipps told the AP in an interview late on Thursday that, in 2020, while he was running for his current post, the Chinese ambassador to a neighboring country