Venezuela...Chavez...Oil and the impact on commodity prices

Several
articles over the weekend focused on the current political environment in OPEC
member Venezuela.

Many Geo-political
events have fueled the current oil price run. Some can say the move germinated when
the national oil company - Petroleos De Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) went on
national strike against the policies of Chavez, grinding production to a halt
in 1Q2001.

The strike was
quelled with Chavez overhauling the oil company with people loyal to his cause and
production resumed, though at a lesser degree.

With somewhere
between 10% and 15% of US imports coming from Venezuela it behooves an energy
investor to be aware of the political events in this northern South American country.

The Economist had two
articles focusing on Chavez and how he is leveraging his bountiful oil revenues
to impart his “Bolivarian revolution