Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Saturday that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could fix a price for oil in a range of US$40 to US$50 per barrel, adding low petroleum prices were a thing of the past.
Chavez's comments come ahead of a crucial OPEC meeting in Iran on March 16. Some analysts are expecting the cartel to cut production to boost oil prices, which have skyrocketed over the past year on supply worries.
Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has been consistently pushing for higher oil prices. Venezuela currently produces more than 3 million barrels of crude oil a day.
"The era of cheap oil is over," Chavez told reporters in New Delhi.
"The world should forget about cheap oil. It will never go back to the US$10 per barrel rate that prevailed in those days," he added.
Chavez didn't elaborate on how OPEC would introduce a trading range for oil prices, which are currently set by the market.
Chavez, who is on a four-day state visit to India, said he was considering increasing oil trade with countries like India and China to ensure their fast economic growth.
"Venezuela will now help the Southern Hemisphere countries with its oil more than it has helped the United States," he said.
"America wants to keep all the good things in the world for itself. But we will not let them do it," he said.
Relations between the US and Venezuela have deteriorated steadily since Chavez took office in February 1999. He has repeatedly accused Washington of trying to destabilize his government. The US State Department has rejected the allegation.
Separately, the US will buy crude from another country if Venezuela follows through on President Hugo Chavez's threat to cut off supplies, the US ambassador to Caracas said in interviews with local media.
Venezuela supplies the US market with 1.5 million barrels of crude a day -- about 15 percent of its crude needs, or nearly as much as Saudi Arabia supplies to the US.
Chavez has threatened to cut off that supply if there is any US "aggression," such as a military invasion or an attempt on his life.
"If the United States does not buy oil from Venezuela, it will buy it from another country," US Ambassador William Brownfield said in an interview with Globovision television news. He gave a similar assessment in interviews with local newspapers that were published on Saturday.
In Caracas, Brownfield acknowledged that a suspension of Venezuelan imports would initially "distort" the US economy, but dismissed it as a minor blip. "In the end, a free market can accommodate such a distortion," he said.
Washington wants to maintain its current relationship with Caracas, Brownfield said, adding that the White House is "analyzing options" in the event that there is a cut in supplies.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
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