Chavez can't afford to stop U.S. oil flow

Predictably, Chavez saw nothing wrong with his actions -- his view is simply that the oil resource belongs to Venezuelans and therefore he, as the country's president, has the right to appropriate -- without compensation -- the assets that have been developed using billions of dollars of other people's money. With the court ruling, Chavez has just found out he might just not be able to get away with this behaviour. By extension, what's playing out is sending a powerful message to all governments out there -- from Angola to Russia and yes, even Alberta -- that contracts must be honoured; they cannot be unilaterally abrogated without compensation. Even the umbrella provided by being a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries isn't going to save Chavez on this one. But let's be honest. There is no way he can afford to cut off oil supplies to the U.S. The simple reality is that Venezuela needs the dollars generated by selling 1.2 million barrels a day of crude to the U.S. At more than $90 a barrel, the revenue works out to more than $100 million a day and with chronic food shortages plaguing Venezuela, Chavez can't afford to be without those petrodollars.