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Chavez to challenge the U.S. in South America's energy leadership
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Workers hang a welcome banner at the venue of the first South American Energy Summit in Margarita IslandBy Elio Ohep
Petroleumworld
Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela
Petroleumworld.com 04 16 07
Venezuela, president Hugo Chavez will gather on Monday all South American presidents to discuss under his leadership, the policy in energy integration in South America to make the region self-sufficient in energy for the next century at a summit organized by Hugo Chavez.``We are conscious of the need in South America of a sustainable plan to the use and generation of energy '' Chavez said on Sunday during his weekly ``Hello Mr. President'' television program.
The two-day summit on Venezuela's Caribbean Island of Margarita is expected to focus on the integration of regional energy policies and projects promoted by Venezuela, with issues to be discussed like the South American 5,000-mile (8,000-kilometer) pipeline to deliver natural gas from Venezuela to Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, the creation of an OPEC-style group of gas producers in the region and a regional "Bank of the South" an alternative to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
``What we will try to do is to gauge the needs of producers and importers of gas in the region and see how that fits with the idea of the group,'' Ramirez told reporters at his arrival at the Margarita Hilton Hotel on Sunday, where the April 16-18 summit will take place.
Chavez will be making a pitch to offset President George W. Bush's efforts to foster production and use of Ethanol bio fuel, with Brazil.
Ethanol, a bio fuel is mainly produce by Brazil and the United States, which respectively produce it from sugarcane and from corn.
Chavez have said that an increased on ethanol production in a crime and make will increase people hunger by using up arable land needed for food production.
The presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela are scheduled to attend the First South American Energy Summit on Margarita Island, off Venezuela's Caribbean Northeast coast. Uruguay will be represented by Rodolfo Nin Novoa, the country's vice president.
- Elio Ohep, editor@petroleumworld.com, 58 412 996 3730, Caracas.Petroleumworld News 16 04 07
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