CHINA STARTS OIL DRILLING OFF FLORIDA
WHILE AMERICA TWIDDLES THUMBS, CHINESE TAP BILLIONS OF BARRELS
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By Mike Blair
While Wa****ngton dithers over exploiting oil and gas reserves off the
coast of Florida, China has seized the op****tunity to gobble up these
deposits, which run throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and along
the U.S. Gulf coast.
The Chinese have forged a deal with Cuban leader Fidel Castro to explore
and tap into massive oil reserves almost within sight of Key West,
Florida. At the same time, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who
controls the largest oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere, is making
deals to sell his country’s oil to China, oil that is currently coming
to the United States.
Meanwhile, a new left-wing populist regime in Bolivia has nationalized
the natural gas industry, threatening to cut off supplies to the United
States.
SLANT DRILLING
There are new re****ts out circulating that Chinese firms are planning to
slant drill off the Cuban coast near the Florida Straits, tapping into
U.S. oil reserves that are estimated at 4.6 billion to 9.3 billion
barrels. This compares with 4 billion to 10 billion barrels believed to
be beneath the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, where drilling is held
up in Congress due to the objections of environmental groups which warn
of endangering caribou. Permission to drill in the refuge, which experts
are certain will not present any environmental hazard, has failed by
just two votes in the Senate.
As Chinese business increases its reach around the world, it is seeking
oil, which it lacks domestically.
After elections in Mexico in early July, when a new regime hostile to
Wa****ngton is expected to take power, the United States might be without
supplies of Mexican crude oil. The United States gets about 40 percent
of its im****ted oil from Mexico and Venezuela.
China is eager to tap into oil reserves in the Florida Straits and then
make a deal with Castro to control it. The Chinese have already reopened
an abandoned Russian oil refinery in Cuba. Much of the gas refined there
is believed to be destined for Free****t in the Bahamas, where the
Chinese, through front company Hutchison-Whampoa, has developed a
massive ****t facility and airfield.
With the refinery reopened and expanded it will also meet the needs of
Castro.
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) has introduced legislation to ease U.S.
restrictions that prevent dealing with Cuba to drill in the Florida
Straits. It is hoped that Florida regulations that prevent U.S. oil
drilling off the state’s coasts could also be eased.
The irony is that Chinese drilling could be even more of an
environmental hazard since China is not as concerned about or equipped
to deal with any potential ecological disaster as a result of a spill,
said Craig.
(Issue #22, May 29, 2006)
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