http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=acuopuf_SPKw&refer=news
And who is smarter than Mr P?
Not Bush/Co
That's for sure!
OAO Gazprom and other Russian energy producers will join with Petroleos de Venezuela SA to work on projects around the world, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said.
``It's a colossus being born,'' Chavez said live on Venezuelan state television from Russia, which he was visiting for the second time in two months. The companies will combine ``investment, exploration, exploitation, processing and commerce in energy, oil, gas and many other areas,'' he said.
A joint energy venture will strengthen ties between Venezuela and Russia, whose growing regional roles have put them at odds with the U.S. The two energy exporters are cooperating militarily, with Russia offering Venezuela $1 billion in credit to buy weapons and conducting joint military exercises with warships and strategic bombers.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who is also chairman of oil company OAO Rosneft, extended the invitation to Petroleos de Venezuela, also known as PDVSA, Chavez said in an earlier call. OAO Lukoil, Rosneft and TNK-BP will be the other members of the group, he said.
Russian energy producers are already expanding abroad, including in Venezuela, where Gazprom, Russia's biggest energy company, and Lukoil are exploring oil fields in the Orinoco Belt. While PDVSA primarily operates in Venezuela, it owns Houston- based Citgo Petroleum and is searching for oil and gas in Ecuador and Bolivia.
Spokesmen for Gazprom and Rosneft said it was too
