From Reuters
Venezuela to sell cut-price heating oil to U.S. poor
Aug 29 10:39 PM US/Eastern
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on
Monday his government plans to sell as much as 66,000 barrels per day of
heating fuel from its U.S. Citgo refinery to poor communities in the United
States.
The offer, made after populist Chavez held talks with U.S. civil rights
activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, would represent 10 percent of the 660,000 bpd
of refined products processed by Citgo. The deals would cut consumer costs
by direct sales.
Venezuela's Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said officials were still working
on the details on how the oil would be sold from Citgo, a unit of the state
oil firm PDVSA.
"We are going to direct as much as 10 percent of the production, that means
66,000 barrels, without intermediaries, to poor communities, hospitals,
religious communities, schools," Chavez told reporters at a press
conference.
The world's No. 5 oil exporter, oil cartel OPEC member Venezuela is a key
supplier to the United States, providing about 15 percent of all U.S. energy
imports.
But relations between Caracas and Washington have become strained since
left-winger Chavez was elected in 1998 promising social reforms.
Chavez, a former army officer who survived a coup in 2002, frequently
accuses the U.S. of backing efforts to kill him or topple his government.
U.S. officials dismiss those charges but say Chavez has become a threat to
regional stability.
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