[NYTr] OPEC: Sour Grapes - Dallas Morning News Bashes Chavez, Inaccurately

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Venezuela Information Office (VIO)
http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com

excerpted from VIO Venezuela Daily News Roundup - Nov 27, 2007


[In oil news, OPEC is expected to move away from the use of the US
dollar for foreign currency reserves.  A Dallas Morning News editorial
attributes this fact to President Chavez, calling him "a dangerous
thug."  Interestingly, Chavez has consistently lobbied within the oil
cartel for price caps.  During his first year in office, the Venezuelan
leader advocated keeping oil prices between $23 and $28, but other
member countries argued that only a base price was needed.  Recently
OPEC is described as having "isolated" Chavez for his plan to scale
back oil prices for developing nations, but Ecuador and Iran also
supported the plan. -VIO]


Dallas Morning News - Nov 26, 2007
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-opec_26edi.ART.State.Edition1.36d500f.html


Editorial

OPEC's Oil Pressure

U.S. consumer spending is down. Banks are in a mess. The stock market
is jittery. Oil prices are nearing $100 a barrel. Conditions could
hardly be better for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,
whose leaders met in Saudi Arabia last week, to bring America to its
knees.

Back in 1973-74, the organization took advantage of similar conditions
to raise prices while Arab producers launched an oil embargo to punish
Western support for Israel. The name OPEC quickly became synonymous
with evil incarnate as Americans lined up at fuel pumps and economic
calamity ensued.

At last week's summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez tried to turn
back the clock and get OPEC to flex its muscles again. He proposed
ending the dollar standard for pricing oil and threatened $200-a-barrel
prices if the United States carries out threats to attack Iran.

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz didn't go so far as Spain's King Juan
Carlos did on Nov. 10, when he told the Venezuelan leader to "shut up."
But the Saudi monarch made clear that OPEC is no longer playing such
geopolitical games. Even Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was
left speechless by some of Mr. Chávez's antics.

Major themes in OPEC's final declaration reflect its growing maturity
and sophistication. The organization made clear that ensuring stable
world oil markets is more important than taking a slap at America or
any other country. OPEC recognized that, in a world of interdependent
markets, everyone suffers when unpredictable oil supplies create global
economic volatility.

The declaration also endorsed the environmental objectives of the 1997
Kyoto Protocol, developing alternative energy sources and boosting aid
to poorer countries. But most important, the summit isolated Mr. Chávez
as representing a bygone era when upheaval and mischief were regarded
as laudable objectives.

OPEC leaders need look no further than his bloody 1992 coup attempt or
his ongoing manipulation of Venezuela's democracy to recognize Mr.
Chávez as a dangerous thug. America might not always share OPEC's
outlook, but Washington should be thankful that level-headed leaders,
whose thumbs rest on our energy jugular, are smart enough to know
trouble when they see it.

                               ***

Reuters - November 27, 2007
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN2746090920071127?sp=true


Venezuela wants move away from dollar oil prices

By Brian Ellsworth

CARACAS - Venezuela on Tuesday called for oil to be priced and billed
in currencies other than the weak U.S. dollar, which has eroded
producer nations' purchasing power.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez also blamed the United States for record
high oil prices, saying its political pressure on some oil-producing
countries had helped push crude toward $100 a barrel.

OPEC should price its oil in a basket of currencies, rather than
focusing on the dollar, Ramirez said in an interview with state
television.

He was reinforcing a position Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promoted
this month at an OPEC summit in U.S. ally Saudi Arabia. The influential
hosts objected and ensured the proposal gained little traction among
the oil cartel's members.

"The oil price is at $100 a barrel, but what dollar are we talking
about? It's a dollar that makes you laugh," said Ramirez, who will
stake out a hawkish stance on oil prices at an OPEC meeting next month.

"The dollar has devalued and it is distorting the oil market because
there is a financial crisis knocking on the U.S. door," he said.

Major currencies have made gains against the dollar this year and some
economists worry a housing credit crisis could tip the United States
into recession, although many others say its economy is robust enough
to weather the problems.

Worries over tight supply for the Northern Hemisphere's winter over the
next few months have pushed prices up. But traders also say there is a
premium factored in on world markets over a U.S. campaign to curb
Iran's nuclear program.

To a much smaller extent, Venezuela's fraying ties with its biggest
customer, the United States, also reinforces worries in the market.

"The Bush administration has put so much (political) pressure on
producers of oil and gas. What's the outcome of this pressure? High
prices," Ramirez said.

The United States says producer nations, such as OPEC members, should
increase output to ease price pressures. 

(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Writing by Saul Hudson; Editing by John
Picinich)