Hugo Chavez Takes Over American Oil Companies

At Midnight, President Hugo Chavez took control of privately run oil fields in order to gain control over the four Orinoco Belt crude projects. These oil fields were held by American companies such as Chevron, Exxon mobile, BP PLc and ConocoPhillips. This means that Chavez's government can decide tomorrow not to send any more oil to America, and there would be little these companies could do.

They even raised the Venezuelan flag on the land. They plan on having a large celebration of the take over. Any company that did not comply such as ConocoPhillips, has the possibility of having their assets frozen in the country. They verbally gave over control in order to make sure the transaction was peaceful.

Americans should be concerned with about a man that hates this country controlling our oil companies. This is the second time that Venezuela has taken over private oil fields.

One of the problems for Chavez is will the people with the know-how stay to help him build, or will they take their money and run? Chevron says that it depends on the negotiations and terms, which were not clear at the takeover.

"Although Venezuela claims output of more than 3 million bpd, analysts reckon it strains to pump 2.6 million bpd. U.S. data peg it as the world's No. 8 exporter."

President Hugo Chavez considers President Fidel Castro his mentor. He was seen frequently visiting Castro while Castro was recovering from surgery. Chavez came to office in 1999 and is the 61st President of Venezuela.

He is popular with the poor in the United States because of his open giving of heat to some of the poorest places, including New York and Alaska. His motives have been questioned, and some states have refused his offer. The New York Daily News referred to him as an "oil pimp,"

Chavez's move to nationalize all utilities and oil has been in the works for a while. He is currently seeking control of the Phone Company and electric company.

In the past Chavez has had choice words for the United States, particularly President George Bush. In 2006 he referred to him as, "The Devil."

His assassination has been called for by former Venezuelan presidents, actors, and most notably TV preacher, Pat Robertson.

Within the next month, the U.S. companies that have now a minority interest in the projects will find out if they are going to be compensated or thrown out.

Resources

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/01/news/international/bc.venezuela.nationalization.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070501/wl_nm/venezuela_nationalization_dc;_ylt=At97h6t20mrUm8kX_0dKn3Cs0NUE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez