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.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
RSS