sapho
13th January 2006, 16:14
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/060111oil.shtml
AUGUSTA — Venezuela has agreed to sell discounted oil to Maine in a deal that
will provide about $5.6 million to help low-income Mainers heat their homes
this winter. The agreement means the 48,000 Mainers enrolled in the Low Income
Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, will receive an additional $100
worth of heating oil at a time when prices have soared. In addition, Citgo, a
Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, will donate
120,000 gallons of heating oil to 40 homeless shelters in Maine.
In confirming details of the deal, the Baldacci administration made no apologies
for accepting aid from a country whose leader called President Bush ''a
madman.''
''The cost of heating oil has risen dramatically and the federal government has
failed to provide the resources needed to help Maine citizens. We are grateful
to Citgo and the Venezuelan government for their generosity,'' said Gov. John
Baldacci.
The White House declined to comment Tuesday on the deal.
Maine is the second U.S. state to accept help from the Venezuelan oil company,
which is essentially controlled by President Hugo Chavez, Latin America's
harshest critic of U.S.-style capitalism.
Last month, Venezuela began delivering 12 million gallons of oil at a 40 percent
discount to Massachusetts. The oil is being distributed statewide by two
nonprofit organizations, Citizens Energy Corp. and the Mass Energy Consumer
Alliance.
Because Maine does not have a nonprofit energy group to distribute oil,
Venezuela has agreed to sell 8 million gallons at regular prices on the open
market and give Maine a check for an amount equivalent to a 40 percent
discount. That would be $5.57 million at Tuesday's wholesale price of $1.74 a
gallon.
The oil donated to Maine's homeless shelters will be delivered by the shelters'
heating oil suppliers.
Baldacci spokeswoman Crystal Canney said the governor wants to help low-income
Mainers stay warm and will not let international politics get in the way.
''We are not mixing politics with this,'' she said. ''The Venezuelan people
offered. We accepted. The governor is not going to let anyone freeze to death
if he can help it.''
But state Rep. Kenneth Fletcher, the ranking Republican on the Legislature's
Utilities and Energy Committee, said Maine is being forced to accept charity
from another country because the state has failed to create a long-term energy
strategy.
''It seems to be a very shaky strategy to have to depend on another kind of
government - a dictatorship - for our supply of oil,'' he said.
The White House has attacked Chavez for supporting communist terrorists in South
America and opposing free-trade agreements. Besides calling Bush a madman,
Chavez also has referred to Saddam Hussein as ''my brother.''
For Venezuela, the deal with Maine allows Chavez to ''ruffle the feathers'' of
the Bush administration, while also illustrating the social consciousness of a
state-owned oil company at a time when U.S. firms are reaping record profits in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, said Patrick Esteruelas, an analyst with the
New York-based Eurasia Group.
The deal also undermines Bush's criticism of Chavez, said Esteruelas, who
advises investors on political risks in foreign countries.
Venezuela already has agreed to give a similar deal to four Indian tribes in
Maine - the Penobscots, Micmacs, Passamaquoddies and the Houlton Band of
Maliseet Indians. That deal is worth $543,000 in savings, tribal officials
said.
Thursday morning, Baldacci, Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez and Citgo
Chief Executive Officer Felix Rodriguez plan to provide more details about the
agreement in Windham at the home of family that receives fuel assistance. That
afternoon, they will travel to Old Town to sign an agreement with the Indian
tribes.
Venezuela is a major supplier of fuel to the United States and is the world's
fifth largest oil exporter.
Last week, in its first action of the 2006 session, the Maine Legislature passed
a bill that adds $5 million to the fuel-assistance program. Baldacci signed that
bill into law. :)
***********************************
AUGUSTA — Venezuela has agreed to sell discounted oil to Maine in a deal that
will provide about $5.6 million to help low-income Mainers heat their homes
this winter. The agreement means the 48,000 Mainers enrolled in the Low Income
Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, will receive an additional $100
worth of heating oil at a time when prices have soared. In addition, Citgo, a
Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, will donate
120,000 gallons of heating oil to 40 homeless shelters in Maine.
In confirming details of the deal, the Baldacci administration made no apologies
for accepting aid from a country whose leader called President Bush ''a
madman.''
''The cost of heating oil has risen dramatically and the federal government has
failed to provide the resources needed to help Maine citizens. We are grateful
to Citgo and the Venezuelan government for their generosity,'' said Gov. John
Baldacci.
The White House declined to comment Tuesday on the deal.
Maine is the second U.S. state to accept help from the Venezuelan oil company,
which is essentially controlled by President Hugo Chavez, Latin America's
harshest critic of U.S.-style capitalism.
Last month, Venezuela began delivering 12 million gallons of oil at a 40 percent
discount to Massachusetts. The oil is being distributed statewide by two
nonprofit organizations, Citizens Energy Corp. and the Mass Energy Consumer
Alliance.
Because Maine does not have a nonprofit energy group to distribute oil,
Venezuela has agreed to sell 8 million gallons at regular prices on the open
market and give Maine a check for an amount equivalent to a 40 percent
discount. That would be $5.57 million at Tuesday's wholesale price of $1.74 a
gallon.
The oil donated to Maine's homeless shelters will be delivered by the shelters'
heating oil suppliers.
Baldacci spokeswoman Crystal Canney said the governor wants to help low-income
Mainers stay warm and will not let international politics get in the way.
''We are not mixing politics with this,'' she said. ''The Venezuelan people
offered. We accepted. The governor is not going to let anyone freeze to death
if he can help it.''
But state Rep. Kenneth Fletcher, the ranking Republican on the Legislature's
Utilities and Energy Committee, said Maine is being forced to accept charity
from another country because the state has failed to create a long-term energy
strategy.
''It seems to be a very shaky strategy to have to depend on another kind of
government - a dictatorship - for our supply of oil,'' he said.
The White House has attacked Chavez for supporting communist terrorists in South
America and opposing free-trade agreements. Besides calling Bush a madman,
Chavez also has referred to Saddam Hussein as ''my brother.''
For Venezuela, the deal with Maine allows Chavez to ''ruffle the feathers'' of
the Bush administration, while also illustrating the social consciousness of a
state-owned oil company at a time when U.S. firms are reaping record profits in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, said Patrick Esteruelas, an analyst with the
New York-based Eurasia Group.
The deal also undermines Bush's criticism of Chavez, said Esteruelas, who
advises investors on political risks in foreign countries.
Venezuela already has agreed to give a similar deal to four Indian tribes in
Maine - the Penobscots, Micmacs, Passamaquoddies and the Houlton Band of
Maliseet Indians. That deal is worth $543,000 in savings, tribal officials
said.
Thursday morning, Baldacci, Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez and Citgo
Chief Executive Officer Felix Rodriguez plan to provide more details about the
agreement in Windham at the home of family that receives fuel assistance. That
afternoon, they will travel to Old Town to sign an agreement with the Indian
tribes.
Venezuela is a major supplier of fuel to the United States and is the world's
fifth largest oil exporter.
Last week, in its first action of the 2006 session, the Maine Legislature passed
a bill that adds $5 million to the fuel-assistance program. Baldacci signed that
bill into law. :)
***********************************