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Headlines : InternationalChavez and Uribe open gas pipeline
In South America, long-time rivals Uribe and Chavez are engaging in a remarkable display of solidarity that includes energy deals as well as the formation of a regional finance sector independent of the World Bank – IMF system.
This is a truly remarkable event. It indicates that the old colonial powers that have ruled South America for centuries are finally being forced to treat the region as an independent equal. Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East should all look to what Chavez and Uribe are doing and follow suit.
It is worth noting that the world is still hooked on fossil fuels – but local independence must go hand-in-hand with the transition to a renewable energy-based economy. The social and economic and environmental issues cannot be separated.
[Posted By neurolingo]Republished from AlJazeera
The leaders of Venezuela and Colombia have inaugurated a natural gas pipeline between their countries and promised to push ahead with ambitious plans to boost regional energy ties.
The 224km undersea pipeline was opened in Ballenas, northern Colombia by Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s president and Alvaro Uribe, his Colombian counterpart.
Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela’s energy and oil minister, said the pipeline had the capacity to pump 14 million cubic metres of natural gas a day between the two countries.
It will initially carry between 5.7 million and 8.5 million cubic metres of gas daily from Colombia to Venezuela.
Posted by neurolingo
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Hope it is not the battleground for the next bloodbaths, really.
For those of you who might not have clicked through — this bit may just be the most mucho important part . . .
OPEN QUOTE
[Chavez] said: “Some say that I’m mad, that this gas pipeline is madness. Whoever says that should go and see the pipelines in Europe that run from Siberia to Portugal.”
END OF QUOTE
Let me see . . . to what, or who’s, pipeline could he be referring.
See also : Gazprom after new projects in Venezuela (RIA Novosti – 12 October 2007)
OPEN QUOTE
A Gazprom delegation met with senior energy officials in Venezuela during a recent visit to Latin America’s largest oil and gas producer.
“The parties discussed prospects of Gazprom’s participation in a project to certify reserves at deposits in the Orinoco Belt, and new offshore gas and infrastructure projects,” the company said in a news release.
In 2005, Gazprom won exploration licenses for two oil fields in Venezuela’s territorial waters. The company completed exploration efforts earlier this year and made a decision to drill test wells.
The company is also involved in plans for a 9,000-meter pipeline to link Venezuela’s vast natural gas reserves to Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay via Brazil to Argentina.
Gazprom, which is 51% owned by the Russian government, controls around a quarter of global gas reserves, but is keen to diversify abroad.
END OF QUOTE and and and, while we’re on the subject
Ecuador to rejoin OPEC next month (xinhua.net 14 October 2007)
OPEN QUOTE
“Ecuador is going to be taking a great step next month” to return to OPEC, Correa said in his weekly radio program.
Ecuador, which produces 530,000 barrels of oil per day, is the fifth largest producer in South America.
END OF QUOTE
I didn’t know Rafael had a weekly Radio Show. Yay!
JC, cuidado, where are the Borachista’s banking on getting their brawn? Now that they’re up against the high-visibility of an internet driven global IE? Would it be the wonderful world of Private Security? Is that what that next new Trillion is really for?
Do we think the Borachista’s can turn the whole planet into Colombia and the Congo? With mercenaries? Does that seem possible to you?
They’ve been hiding behind the pretense of champions of “Freedom and Democracy” for too long. These guys are going down. They’re still trying to claim the upper hand for moral rectitude. The silly rabbits. Have they even the vaguest idea of how silly they look?
Columbia University’s treatment of the President of Iran makes it quite clear that they do not.
There was a groovy Open Letter from Fidel a while back, not too long ago, with a little nugget that fits just perfectly right here . . . and I’m off to see if I can dig it up for Our Crowd.
[later : I’ve given up, sorry. Can’t find it. Maybe someone else can find it. It was the one where he talked about the Soviet Union purchasing IT — from the US — to manage their gas lines and the US rigged it so that it would fail and it did and apparently you could see the explosions from Outer Space . . anyone remember that one?]
So but first wait wait wait. If you didn’t click through to Doha’s piece, you wouldn’t wanna miss dis!
OPEN QUOTE
Uribe announced that Colombia would formally request to join a regional development bank backed by Chavez that is to launch next month in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.
Uribe, who is Washington’s closest ally in the region, said: “Our entrance into the Bank of the South is not a rejection of the World Bank or the Inter-American bank but an expression of solidarity and loyalty with the South American brotherhood”
END OF QUOTE
Superpower control of global energy resources is coming to an end. That’s how I interpret all this – but the London-New York axis doesn’t want to see that happen. They want all fossil fuel energy trades to flow through their NYMEX and IPE exchanges, so the bankers and speculators can continue to take their cut – and they’ve got the network of global US military bases as their “private mercenary army” for enforcement. I don’t think people will stand for it any longer, and the bloody failure in Iraq is proof that the system is on its last legs.
So, we can look forward to a world where the major regions are all equals – but that doesn’t solve the energy problem, does it? However, independent countries not ruled by dictators beholden to foreign powers are more likely to act in their own best interests, aren’t they? As an example, see this story from UPI:
http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Analysis/2007/09/14/analysis_solar_energy_in_uzbekistan/9967/: Solar energy in Uzbekistan
Both terrorism and renewable energy resources are global problems. Power generation can in itself be a tool to combat terrorism, as it produces a rising standard of living for those with access to it. As the world searches for acceptable alternatives to increasingly expensive fossil fuels, nations previously seen as marginal players in the global energy market will increasingly come to the fore. Given its expertise and abundant sunshine, the future of Uzbek solar power looks bright indeed.
Try that again:
Analysis:Solar Energy in Uzbekistan