Originally published December 29 2005
News source evaluates the political climate of foreign oil sources
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Street looks at the countries that top the list for U.S. oil imports and breaks down how the political situation of the country affects oil prices and their standing in terms of trade partnerships.
Politicians are demanding that the U.S. become less dependant on foreign oil, but the near-term options seem weak.
Hydrogen is several years away from being an alternative energy source.
Meanwhile, the highly fragile political situations in the countries that are the greatest sources of oil strongly suggest the price of oil will remain high.
# The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has said he wants Venezuela oil tankers going to places other than the U.S. Although the U.S. is the No. 1 buyer of Venezuela oil, he, in sum, prefers to earn greater political power by selling oil at a discount to Caribbean and South American countries than at a premium to the U.S.
Additionally, Chavez just increased the government's take of royalties on oil profits from 1% to 30% and increased the tax rate from 34% to 50%.
As a result, any non-Venezuelan company is now required to turn over more than 75% of its profits to the Venezuelan government and an increasing amount of Venezuelan oil production is government controlled.
Russia almost rivals Saudi Arabia as the world's No. 1 producer of oil.
Russia like Saudi Arabia is considered a friend of the U.S., but you are dealing with two highly volatile political situations.
In the latest energy bill it is mandated that ethanol production increase to 7.5 billion gallons in the next 10 years, almost double current production levels.
While there are other ways to make ethanol, corn is the best; 12% of current corn production goes to ethanol.
I believe a great way to invest in ethanol is to invest in the basics of the demand: Deere (DE:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take).
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