Hugo Chavez Calling for more OPEC Oil Production Cuts

There's no doubt Hugo Chavez is mildly tolerated by the people of Venezuela, as he's taken the money from the oil industry he nationalized and redistributed it to the healthcare and education systems in the country.

Now that oil prices have plummeted, and Chavez is attempting to change the terms of being in office, he's pushing hard for oil production cuts from OPEC in order to push up the price of oil, whose demand has fallen along with the global recession. About half of Venezuelan government spending comes from oil proceeds.

Another step by Chavez which is destined to fail, is he's now reaching out to foreign investors again in order to shore up his domestic industry. But since Chavez stole the industry from major oil companies, there is no trust that once deals are made the contracts will be honored. They'd only be honored as long as the country's needs and his personal agenda was met. Once that was accomplished, we know he would once again break his word and take things back under his control.

Once a socialist always a socialist. Anyone that doesn't see that deserves to learn the hard way.

OPEC Export Revenue Dropping to Lowest Level in Five Years

Lower oil prices will cause export revenue for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to drop to their lowest level in five years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Most of the assertions of OPEC can only be taken with a grain of salt, as there's never full compliance by member nations, and the EIA confirms they're looking at only about half the projected cuts will in reality be made, which recently were decreased to a wishful 4.2 million barrels a day.

That leads them to project revenue for OPEC countries will be down by about $57 billion from last month's numbers, with overall revenue for the year reaching an estimated $387 billion.

Further out in 2010, there should be an increase to about $526 billion, still far below the $972 billion in revenue generated in 2008.

Taking into account the projections made when oil hit the record $147 a barrel during the summer, which were at $1.3 trillion for 2009, this is an extraordinary challenge for the OPEC countries which rely so much on the revenue to keep their countries stabilized.