Chavez Prefers Russian Oil and Lenin

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took several parting shots at the United States as he wrapped up a visit to Moscow on Friday, suggesting that he preferred Russian oil companies to U.S. ones and that life was more than Superman.

Chavez told Russian business leaders on Friday that he expected development of a “road map” that would boost and diversify Russian-Venezuelan business ties — especially in the energy sector, including construction of a natural gas pipeline and oil refineries.
“We are very satisfied with the presence of Russian companies in our oil industry, and will do our best to develop this cooperation further,” he said in an address to the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said that at dinner Thursday night with Putin, they had agreed to create a fund to support joint projects. With Russia’s help, Venezuela is ready to build four oil refineries and plans another 13, he said.

He also invited Russian oil companies to help develop the Orinoco River basin, recognized as the world’s single-largest known oil deposit, potentially holding 1.2 trillion barrels of extra-heavy crude.

Moscow Times