South America Energy Integration seminar to be held in Caracas in the second half of July

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): A seminar on energy integration in South America will be held in Caracas in the second half of July, said National Assembly (AN) Deputy Javier Arrue, a member of the energy and mines committee at the legislature.

The meeting has been called by Mercosur, the block made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and member countries of the South American Union, Unasur, have been invited. Arrué didn't name a date for the seminar. "The integration of the South depends undoubtedly on energy integration," he said during an interview on state television channel VTV. Energy was one of the fundamental elements for the future of the country, he added.

The energy policy pursued by President Hugo Chavez took account of the strategic role energy had to play, the deputy continued. We can't wait for the social and economic structure of the world to collapse around us to start looking for answers," he warned. The world was consuming 83 million barrels a day and "the oil's running out and we have to think of the humanity of the weakest."