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Venezuelan anti-government protests turn violent

Venezuelan security forces fired rubber bullets into the air Wednesday to break up a crowd of activists following the largest protests against President Nicolas Maduro’s government since he was re-elected almost a year ago. Five people were killed during standoffs including a police officer, two student demonstrators and a member of militant community groups known as "colectivos," according to local media. Twenty-five people have been injured during the protests. The fatalities came at the end of rival demonstrations to support and denounce Maduro’s government. Under the banner "The Exit," meaning Maduro’s departure, hard line opposition groups have been holding protests around the country for the past two weeks, to complain about rampant crime, corruption and economic hardships. "All of these problems — shortages, inflation, insecurity, the lack of opportunities — have a single culprit: the government," Leopoldo Lopez, a Harvard University-trained former mayor, told a crowd of about 10,000 […]

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Panama Canal chief reports progress in dispute

Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano says the agency has reached tentative agreement on some issues in efforts to resolve a dispute that has halted work on a major expansion plan. But Quijano also says the Authority might take over the project if no final agreement with the contractors is reached this week. He spoke Wednesday during a chamber of commerce meeting. The contractors say work has gone $1.6 billion over budget and they have demanded the authority pay. The dispute has threatened to delay the biggest expansion of the canal since it opened a century ago. © 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Latest News Latest Winter Games News ©2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Terms under which this site is provided. […]

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Panama Canal Expansion on 'Brink of Failure' Due to Financing Dispute

Work to expand the Panama Canal so bigger ships can fit through the 100-year-old waterway has virtually ground to a halt, and the consortium in charge of the construction effort said the project is now on the "brink of failure" after talks broke down between the contractors and Panama’s government over who is going to pay for $1.6 billion in cost overruns. The storied canal, built by American engineers, is among the world’s most vital shipping routes, acting as a shortcut between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans that shaves nearly two weeks off travel times for ships that otherwise would need to travel around South America at Cape Horn. But the canal has become too narrow for the world’s ever-larger ships, including those hauling products such as natural gas and other fuels. Countries including the U.S., which is fast becoming a net exporter of natural gas as it uses […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Panama Canal Expansion on ‘Brink of Failure’ Due to Financing Dispute

Work to expand the Panama Canal so bigger ships can fit through the 100-year-old waterway has virtually ground to a halt, and the consortium in charge of the construction effort said the project is now on the "brink of failure" after talks broke down between the contractors and Panama’s government over who is going to pay for $1.6 billion in cost overruns. The storied canal, built by American engineers, is among the world’s most vital shipping routes, acting as a shortcut between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans that shaves nearly two weeks off travel times for ships that otherwise would need to travel around South America at Cape Horn. But the canal has become too narrow for the world’s ever-larger ships, including those hauling products such as natural gas and other fuels. Countries including the U.S., which is fast becoming a net exporter of natural gas as it uses […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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At markets, Chavez successor falls short

“This is so depressing,” said Maria Plaza, 30, a lawyer, an hour and a half into her wait. “Pathetic.” Depressing, in an otherwise bright, modern supermarket that sells $100 bottles of Spanish wine, Jack Daniel’s whiskey and organic rice puffs. Pathetic, in a country with the world’s largest petroleum reserves and oil prices at nearly $95 a barrel, yet unable to supply basic goods because of its crumbling local currency and a shortage of U.S. dollars. “Soon we’ll be using newspaper, just like they do in Cuba!” said an elderly man nearby, inching forward in line. “Yeah! Like Cuba!” others shouted. The fate of Venezuela’s revolution, it seems, will be decided at the supermarket. Nearly a year after Chávez’s death of complications from cancer at age 58, his hand­picked successor, Nicolás Maduro, is struggling to contain food shortages, spiraling inflation and rampant crime. The arrival of basic staples such […]

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Peru Moving Forward With Energy Project Despite Concern for Native Tribes

Peru is pushing forward with an expansion of the country’s biggest natural gas project despite concerns about its potential impact on indigenous tribes living deep inside a remote Amazon reserve. The Mines and Energy Ministry this week approved a key environmental permit that will allow the Camisea consortium to carry out a $480 million exploration program at its Block 88 concession. The consortium, led by Argentina’s Pluspetrol Norte SA, plans to drill 18 exploration wells and conduct seismic testing in a part of the concession that overlaps with the Kugapakori-Nahua-Nanti indigenous reserve. President Ollanta Humala’s administration is keen on finding new reserves at the Camisea gas fields, which are an important source of tax revenue and seen as a supply of low-cost fuel for the national market. The consortium paid $1.3 billion in royalties in 2013. Camisea produces almost all of Peru’s natural gas from Block 88 and […]

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Venezuela Oil Sales to U.S. at 1985-Low Shows China Cost

Venezuelan energy sales to the U.S. are heading for the lowest levels in 28 years as President Nicolas Maduro steps up shipments to his main lender China and the shale boom floods North American refineries. Venezuelan exports of crude and petroleum products to the U.S. averaged 792,000 barrels a day in the first 11 months of 2013, which would be the lowest annual rate since 1985, according to data published yesterday on the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s website. State-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA is sending hundreds of thousands of barrels a day to China to pay back government loans. At the same time, refiners along the U.S. Gulf Coast are sourcing more domestic supply as a surge in drilling shale rock sends output to the highest in a quarter-century. “ Venezuela is losing out by selling crude to China, which is a market where they are netting back a […]

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Venezuela Oil Exports to U.S. Hit Lowest Rate Since 1985

Venezuela ’s annual oil exports to the U.S. are on track to reach a 28-year low as the South American country faces declining production, rising domestic demand and increased shipments to China . Venezuelan exports of oil and petroleum products to the U.S. have averaged 792,000 barrels a day in the first 11 months of 2013, the lowest annual rate seen since 1985, according to data through November published by the U.S.-based Energy Information Administration on its website today. Petroleos de Venezuela SA , the state-run oil company , sends hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day to China to pay back loans for billions of dollars made to Venezuela’s government. The company’s production, which averaged 2.9 million barrels a day in 2012, according to the company’s annual report for that year, averaged 2.45 million barrels a day in December last year, a Bloomberg survey showed. “Venezuela […]

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Argentina’s Shale Industry Lures International Oil Companies

More The whole world knows that shale revolutionized the U.S. energy industry. Now oil and gas executives are salivating when they think of Argentina’s booming shale industry. Argentina ranks second in the world, behind China, in potentially recoverable shale-gas reserves, with 802 trillion cubic feet, according to a study last October by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Argentina also ranks fourth in shale oil with an estimated 27 billion barrels. In July, YPF and Chevron inked a deal to spend $1.2 billion to further develop shale oil and gas resources in the Vaca Muerta  formation. The deal calls for an initial phase in which 100 wells will be drilled in a 5,000-acre tract in the Loma La Lata Norte and Loma Campana areas. Chevron said the deal gives it the chance to grow production beyond its 2017 target of 3.3 million barrels per day. Chevron says shale will help […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Argentina's Shale Industry Lures International Oil Companies

More The whole world knows that shale revolutionized the U.S. energy industry. Now oil and gas executives are salivating when they think of Argentina’s booming shale industry. Argentina ranks second in the world, behind China, in potentially recoverable shale-gas reserves, with 802 trillion cubic feet, according to a study last October by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Argentina also ranks fourth in shale oil with an estimated 27 billion barrels. In July, YPF and Chevron inked a deal to spend $1.2 billion to further develop shale oil and gas resources in the Vaca Muerta  formation. The deal calls for an initial phase in which 100 wells will be drilled in a 5,000-acre tract in the Loma La Lata Norte and Loma Campana areas. Chevron said the deal gives it the chance to grow production beyond its 2017 target of 3.3 million barrels per day. Chevron says shale will help […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple