Replies to post #1932 on Nothing But Politics

[Amaunet]

Iraq oil output boost to affect regional balance: Iran's Zanganeh

Iran, another 'Axis of Evil' country is considering switching to euro dollars.

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=993009

Iran is also trying to get as close to Europe as possible.


London (Platts)--12May2003

US plans to expand Iraqi crude output capacity will have negative repercussions for Iran and regional balance in the Gulf, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Monday. He also stressed the importance of rapidly boosting Iran's own production capacity, especially in oil fields bordering Iraq. Zanganeh, quoted by official Islamic Republic News Agency, told a meeting of Friday prayers leaders from nine provinces it appeared Washington did not want OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia to retain its status as the leading player on world oil markets and was trying to raise Iraqi oil production from 2.5-mil b/d before the war to 6.5-mil b/d. "It seems that the United States wants to boost Iraqi production from 2.5-mil b/d to 6.5-mil b/d to stop Saudi Arabia from having the final say in world oil policy," Zanganeh said, quoted by AFP. Rising Iraqi production would lead to a "considerable difference" between Iranian and Iraqi oil revenues, affecting not only the balance of power between Tehran and Baghdad but also the regional balance, he said.

"We share our most important oil fields with Iraq, and the US will boost production in these fields, even if its intention is not to bother us, because it is profitable," Zanganeh said, adding that Iran should aim for a rapid boost in the capacity of these border fields. "Considering the current problems between the US and Europe, it is a good occasion for us to benefit from European investment," he added. An industry source close to Iran said Zanganeh's remarks were almost certainly aimed at cajoling the country's conservative establishment into supporting the reformist government's attempts to boost capacity through foreign investment under the so-called buyback model, whereby foreign companies are remunerated for their investment through deemed project revenues. Iran's conservative politicians have questioned the terms of the buyback deals, and senior Iranian oil officials have said that allegations of misconduct involving the oil ministry have delayed billions of dollars worth of oil and gas development deals with foreign companies.

"Opponents of buybacks and foreign investment in the oil sector don't oppose on ideological grounds but on political grounds; they don't want the reformist government to benefit from increased investment in the oil and gas sector," said the industry source close to Iran. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein analyst Mehdi Varzi agreed that Zanganeh was trying to underline the importance of boosting production through the buyback deals. He said there was "no doubt that Iran is worried about rising Iraqi production," whichever regime was in power in Baghdad. "The buyback system has been very disappointing. Iran's production capacity, seven years after the first buyback deal was signed, is still stuck between 3.5- and 4-mil b/d," Varzi said. At the same time, Varzi suggested, Zanganeh was also sending a message to Saudi Arabia. "He is telling the Saudis 'you need us'," he said. Last month, Zanganeh said Iran wanted to boost its output capacity from a current 4-mil b/d to 5-mil b/d in two years' time.

[Amaunet]

Mexico won't open Pemex to US in return for immigration deal: Fox

Mexico should be happy at least we haven’t threatened to nuke them for their oil. Am





Mexico City (Platts)--12May2003

Mexican president Vicente Fox firmly denied that his country is prepared to open state oil and gas company Pemex to US investment in return for an accord that would legalize the presence of millions of undocumented Mexicans in the US.

Late last week, the US House International Relations Committee approved a non-binding measure which says that any accord on immigration with Mexico should include an agreement to open Pemex to US investment. The measure, which went largely unnoticed in the US, caused outrage among Mexican politicians and launched a barrage of criticism in the nation's press. In a statement issued Sunday, Fox said the quest for a migration accord with the US remained a priority for his government but "in no way" would it accept any proposal to negotiate an agreement in exchange for an opening of Pemex to foreign investment. The statement added that the current administration was working to modernize Pemex but "we have said on many occasions that this government will neither privatize nor sell Pemex. We reiterate out commitment once more."

This story was originally published in Platts Global Alert.

[stack]

-US struggle to find new goods, people for the dilluted US dollar became obvious when the first millions of dollars where shipped to Iraq to pay officials. Although one has to wonder how successful a plan can be to introduce dollar bills to a muslim country which have "In God We Trust" written on them.

-Economically one could argue that the recent rally especially in Techs is a "weak dollar" rally, showing purely inflationary results.

-Good article with a few unknown arguments to me. One could of course argue if the ? is indeed the enemy #1 to the $, or if the $ is it's own enemy #1.

greets S.

[Amaunet]

Here’s how it works…


Relations between Cuba and the U.S., enemies since Castro took power in a 1959 revolution, have been increasingly strained during the Bush administration.

The U.S. charges that the Caribbean island sponsored terrorism and Cuba accused the Bush administration of obsessively trying to overthrow President Fidel Castro's government.

(Lets not forget Al-Qaeda is in 60 countries and the United States probably harbors more terrorists than any place on earth.)

But what is more important is that Cuba might be effectively cutting the U.S. dollar out of the vital oil transaction currency cycle through their ‘barter deals’ with Venezuela.

The reality is that the strength of the U.S. dollar since 1945 rests on it being the international reserve currency. Thus it assumes the role of fiat currency for global oil transactions (ie. `petro-dollar').

Various reports suggest the CIA and a rather embarrassed Bush administration approved and may have been actively involved with the civilian/military coup plotters who tried to rid Venezuela of Chavez.

Reference:
Venezuela is the fourth largest producer of oil, and the corporate elites whose political power runs unfettered in the Bush/Cheney oligarchy appear interested in privatizing Venezuela's oil industry. Furthermore, the establishment might be concerned that Chavez's `barter deals' with 12 Latin American countries and Cuba are effectively cutting the U.S. dollar out of the vital oil transaction currency cycle. Commodities are being traded among these countries in exchange for Venezuela's oil, thereby reducing reliance on fiat dollars. If these unique oil transactions proliferate, they could create more devaluation pressure on the dollar. Continuing attempts by the CIA to remove Hugo Chavez appear likely.



U.S. Expels 14 Cuban Diplomats

Updated 11:51 AM ET May 13, 2003


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is expelling 14 Cuban diplomats for engaging in "activities inconsistent with diplomatic status," a U.S. official said on Tuesday, using diplomatic language that can refer to spying.

"It is seven here (Washington) and seven in New York," a State Department official said.

Those expelled were from the Cuban interest section in Washington and from the Cuban interest section in the United Nations, an American diplomat said earlier in Havana.

The United States did not release the names of those expelled.

Relations between the two countries, enemies since Castro took power in a 1959 revolution, have been increasingly strained during the Bush administration.

Last month Cuba sentenced 75 dissidents to long prison terms for allegedly working with the United States and executed three men for hijacking a ferry in a failed bid to reach the United States. The arrests and executions brought protests from governments, human rights organizations and others worldwide.

Cuba last week rejected U.S. charges that the Caribbean island sponsored terrorism, and accused the Bush administration of obsessively trying to overthrow President Fidel Castro's government.

In Havana, the communist government did not immediately comment on the expulsions.

[Amaunet]

Venezuelan move to replace US$ with the €uro upsetting Washington more than Saddam's €uro conversion last November

VHeadline.com editor & publisher Roy S. Carson writes: A move by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias to replace the US$ with the €uro is seen as upsetting Washington more than when Iraq's Saddam Hussein started using the €uro for oil transactions last November ... precipitating the US-led action to invade Iraq. Beltway bullies are now said to be angered by Venezuela's decision to barter oil with thirteen other Latin American countries, dealing moves to dollarize South America currencies. Intelligence reports say that while the US was able to pull the wool over the international community and ally with Britain's Blair to bulldoze action against former Iran War ally Hussein, the situation with Venezuela is proving more difficult.

While there has been political pretext to cold-shoulder Chavez Frias and his government for supposed links with Cuba's Castro and Libya's Khadaffi, the United States is loathe to do more than to give subversive support to anti-Chavez elements in Venezuela fighting against the Venezuelan President's domestic war against political and economic corruption which have permeated the South American country for the last half-century.

International finance experts see how the US dollar has been devaluing against the €uro, as important players on the international scene convert to the European currency for more stable transactions ... Russia, China, North Korea and Malaysia have begun holding €uros as important hedgings in their foreign exchange reserves as faith in American greenbacks floats down the river.

CIA and other intel organizations, including Britain's MI5, now fear that the next step is that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is about to switch to €uros ... the immediate effect would be a massive devaluation, perhaps sparking of domino-effect devaluations worldwide in US$-related foreign reserves and foreign debt calculations.

With a massive budget deficit, the United States is running scared of latest intel that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is on the brink of converting to the €uros and the opinion held by many OPEC ministers is that the conversion is an inevitability ... the only question left is WHEN?

Arab sources claim that €uro conversion across the Middle and Far East is a rational step to counteract the United States' capacity to "wage further illegal wars (a.k.a. State-sponsored terrorism)" around the world and that any prolonged occupation of Iraq by US/British forces ... and any move towards withdrawal of Iraq from the OPEC cartel ... will only precipitate "remedial action" by like-minded Arab nations to protect their own best interests over Washington's.

A significant step in this direction is that Iran is contemplating switching to the €uro and, as a result, is the latest object of United States undiplomatic interference ... an intel sources says "they are stimulating opposition forces, making covert threats ... the next step is destabilization and quasi-liberation warfare under the pretext of promoting US-style democracy but essentially aimed at maintaining the US dollar as a global transaction currency."







Our editorial statement reads:
VHeadline.com Venezuela is a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. We seek to shed light on nefarious practices and the corruption which for decades has strangled this South American nation's development and progress. Our declared editorial bias is pro-democracy and pro-Venezuela ... which some may wrongly interpret as anti-American.
Roy S. Carson, Editor/Publisher [e-mail]