Chavez Says Worldwide Energy Crisis is Imminent

The world is about to face an energy crisis because the demand for oil keeps growing even though production is already at its maximum, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday.

“There’s a worldwide energy crisis around the corner,” Chavez told reporters at the end of the Summit of South American-Arab Countries in Brazil.

“Especially because the United States and other developed countries, but more so the United States, have built a way of life based on the wasteful consumption of oil, which is non-renewable.”
Representatives of eight of the 11 OPEC members were present at the summit, which did not have energy on its official agenda.

Chavez, whose country is the fifth largest crude oil exporter, said that all OPEC members were “producing at full steam.”

“We are producing at maximum capacity,” he said, adding that non-OPEC members such as Russia and the U.S. were doing the same.

Production “has not stopped and demand is growing. Venezuela is producing 3.1 million barrels a day,” he said.

Chavez also said that he was negotiating with Brazil to buy Super Tucanos war planes for Venezuela’s air force.

“We will buy Super Tucanos planes here in Brazil and will repair the ones we have had for several years,” he said, without elaborating on details of the possible transaction.

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