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Mexico, Venezuela Vie For Energy Influence
UPI Energy Correspondent Mexico City, Mexico (UPI) Nov 15, 2005 With oil and gas prices hitting record highs, Mexico and Venezuela are vying for energy influence. Banco Centroamericano de Integracion Economica predicts Central America's oil bill this year will be $5 billion. The region's GDP is $80 billion. Mexico plans to construct a $3.2 billion oil refinery for Central America, which imports virtually all its oil and fuel, but soaring oil prices this year have hurt the region economically. Mexico's Pemex plans to open several gas stations across the region, while stirring up competition in what has been an oligopolistic market. Venezuela, meanwhile, is also interested in using its vast petroleum resources to increase its influence in the region. Known for his generous energy deals under the PetroCaribe initiative, President Hugo Chavez recently offered cheap fuel to Nicaragua and to construct the storage tanks needed to handle it. Under Chavez's scheme, 15 Caribbean nations will participate and the world's fifth-largest oil exporter will pick up 40 percent of the tab for oil supplied when global prices are more than $50 per barrel and will pick up shipping costs and assist with the creating storage facilities. But Barbados refused Venezuela's offer while Trinidad & Tobago produces and exports its own oil and gas. Some Nicaraguans are skeptical over Chavez's offer and are asking if they will have to support his anti-U.S. foreign policy in return. All rights reserved. � 2005 United Press International. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by United Press International.. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of United Press International. Related Links TerraDaily Search TerraDaily Subscribe To TerraDaily Express Clean Energy Soon Indispensable As Oil Runs Low: Experts Stockholm (AFP) Nov 09, 2005 As fuel consumption continues to rise around the world despite high oil prices and a growing fear of a shortage of the "black gold", experts at an international conference in Stockholm said Wednesday that clean energy would soon be indispensable.
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