Japan, oil and Venezuela: Wait until Cheney goes home!
February 24, 2007
By Ken Worsley
In an article published today that originally appeared in the Asia Times on February 21, Hisane Masaki reports that Japan decreased its oil imports from the Middle East last year by 2% compared with 2005. She goes on to say:
Does this herald a lasting change in the nation’s oil-import structure or represent just a statistical quirk?
I had the same question. I haven’t heard much about intentional efforts to reduce dependency on Middle Eastern oil, and Masaki reports that more oil has been coming in from Russia, Central Asia and the Caspian Sea area, but does not mention South America.
Then, today we find out yesterday that Japan’s Marubeni and Mitsui announced that they had signed deals with Venezuela’s PDVSA to buy crude oil and petroleum products for 15 years, the first long term contracts between Japanese oil companies and a supplier in South America. The deal is expected to bring in 20,000 to 30,000 barrels per day.
I think we can forgive Masaki for not being tipped off on this. It was announced, after all, the day after US Vice President Dick Cheney left town.
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Sure, it’s a coincidence. But haven’t you learned not to put 2 and 2 together? It seems to me that Bush, Cheney, and now Abe have gone a long way toward dumbing the discourse of down their respective populaces. I mean, sure, have the kids do well in math tests, but, you know, make sure the TV’s on in the background…
I don’t know…the other night on TV I got the chance to see some adults eating cookies from Kagoshima and saying ‘oishii’ - isn’t that why those high test scores matter? So you can sit in front of the TV and watch people eat food?