news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050829/pl_afp/usweathervenezuelaoil
AFP Venezuela offers fuel, food to hurricane-hit US Mon Aug 29, 7:48 PM ET CARACAS (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to send food and fuel to the United States after the powerful Hurricane Katrina pummeled the US south, ravaging US crude production.
click here The leftist leader, a frequent critic of the United States and a target h imself of US disapproval, said Venezuela could send aid workers with dri nking water, food and fuel to US communities hit by the hurricane. "We place at the disposition of the people of the United States in the ev ent of shortages -- we have drinking water, food, we can provide fuel," Chavez told reporters. Chavez said fuel could be sent to the United States via a Citgo refinery that has not been affected by the hurricane. Citgo is owned by Venezuela 's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). In the Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for a quarter of total US oil outpu t, 92 percent of crude and 83 percent of natural gas production were shu t down due to Hurricane Katrina, which slammed Louisiana and Mississippi , according to US government data. Venezuela is the fourth-largest provider of oil to the United States, sup plying some 15 million barrels a day. Last week, Chavez offered discount gasoline to poor Americans suffering f rom high oil prices and on Sunday offered free eye surgery for Americans without access to health care.
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