On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 10:04:23 -0500, daytripper
wrote:

On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:30:35 -0600, wrote:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/22/ven....ap/index.html

Read it carefully before you form any opinions...

Done. It's a Good Thing.

And if it embarrasses the morons in the White House, so much the better...

/daytripper

Well, whatever the WH position might be publicly, the private position
will be something along the lines of laughing their asses off. If this
gets any real coverage, a lot of folks outside the Kennedy (and Kerry)
Dem circle(s), including a lot of Dems, will be doing the same. This
was yet another political stunt that has the real potential to blow up
in the faces of the aforementioned Dems.

That said, here are some points one might wish to consider:

(All dollar amounts are approximate, using the current market, in USD)

A good bit of foreign-refinery heating oil in the US comes from
Venezuela.

There is a move away from home heating oil in the US and the Northeast
of the US accounts for much of its continued use.

Giving it the most favorable view possible - it was an altruistic
gesture with no other motives whatsoever by anyone involved to help as
many poor people as possible - this could only benefit a very miniscule
subset of "the poor."

Bought as a commodity, 12 million gallons of heating oil is 21 million
dollars (at roughly $1.75 Jan delivery). Assume oil fixed and stable at
$55 per bbl. Take $55 per bbl and divide by 42 (ignoring processing
gain) - $1.31. However, petrocommodity prices are trending down.

The cost of heating oil, the crude oil and refining cost, for the
average refiner, FOB the refinery, is about 50-55% of the price of the
heating oil. About, ahem, 35-40% of the cost is marketing, and 5-15% is
distribution. However, PDVSA has long-term contracts with its
subsidiaries to supply at less-than-market pricing.

CITGO had third-quarter income of $205 million. A visit to CITGO's
homepage might give some indication of where CITGO stands on "U.S.-style
capitalism."

Assuming the story accurate, there is nothing to insure "the poor" will
receive any major benefits as the individuals receiving the discounted
oil are "low income." Of course, the money potentially saved by
"...institutions, such as homeless shelters and hospitals" could and
hopefully will go toward helping "the poor." However, there really
isn't any way to determine what that savings might be predelivery or if
the savings helps "the poor."

TC,
R