VOA常速英语2008年-Venezuela Cuts Oil Exports to ExxonMobil

By Brian Wagner
Miami
13 February 2008

Venezuela says it has halted oil sales to U.S.-based ExxonMobil as part of a legal dispute over compensation for the firm's assets in the country. In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports Venezuela also has criticized U.S. officials for allegedly backing ExxonMobil against the socialist¹ government.

State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela said it "paralyzed" exports to Exxon and cut all commercial ties with the Texas-based firm late Tuesday. Venezuelan officials accuse the firm of economic harassment² after Exxon won a court order in Europe freezing $12 billion in Venezuelan assets abroad.

In recent days, Venezuelan officials have threatened to cut off all sales to the United States, which is Venezuela's top customer. Tuesday's decision, however, only affects a small portion of oil exports.

Former head of Latin America operations for Amoco Oil, Jorge Piñon, says the move against Exxon will have little impact on the U.S. oil industry.

"Most likely that amount of oil will still come into the U.S. but instead of going to Exxon it will go to Citgo which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela," he said.

Exxon Mobil declined to comment on Venezuela's announcement, but a senior executive said the company hopes to negotiate for compensation of its assets in Venezuela.

The U.S.-based firm is seeking payment for oil installations that Caracas agreed to take over last year, after the two sides failed to negotiate a new contract. ExxonMobil says the assets are worth as much as two billion dollars, and Venezuela says the value is much lower.

Venezuelan officials have accused Washington of taking an active role in the legal dispute in an effort to harm Venezuela. This week, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the country would defend its oil policies and its sovereignty.

Maduro says the U.S. government is trying to destabilize Venezuela and convert the nation into what he called an oil-producing colony.

Tuesday, White House press secretary Dana Perino said the issue between Venezuela and ExxonMobil is a civil matter, referring to other pending³ lawsuits⁴.

"When there is a litigation that's ongoing⁵, different parties will say anything to try to win an argument, and it's not something that the federal government is going to get involved in," she said.

Oil experts say the dispute over compensation could last several years before the two sides reach an agreement. But they say the export cut-off will have little impact on world oil prices because ExxonMobil has limited activities in Venezuela.

Piñon adds that Venezuela is unlikely to carry out threats of further cuts of exports to the U.S. because it relies on American customers and refineries⁶ to process its heavy crude.

"There are not many countries, or many refineries in the world that can handle heavy crude oil from Venezuela. So the main challenge is going to be to Venezuela and not to the United States," he said.

Venezuela has said it is pursuing new refinery⁷ projects in Nicaragua, Ecuador and other countries to reduce its reliance on the United States.

1 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

2 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

3 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

4 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

7 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。