London 14.06.2012, 01:23 GMT | A falsehood has circled the globe before the truth has even laced up its boots. This particular lie began with Bloomberg, which published an article today titled “Venezuela Surpasses Saudis for Largest Oil Reserves, Says BP.”
After visiting BP’s website (press release and relevant report), I took the time to send an email to Rupert Rowling and Stephen Voss at Bloomberg this afternoon. Knowing how utterly unbelievable such a headline is, I had to read for myself what BP had actually said. Here’s what I, along with any mediocre journalists/editors at Bloomberg and anyone interested in the topic, can find on BP’s site regarding the source of the quoted figures:
The Venezuelan reserves in the Orinoco Belt are based on information from the OPEC Secretariat and announcements from the government.
BP makes it clear, both in the press release and related reports, that the reserve figures come from the OPEC Secretariat—which collects data from its member countries, Venezuela being one of them—and from Venezuelan government announcements. Chávez may be on the verge of death, but he is not mentally incapacitated just yet. So of course, he will continue to blow his own horn, claiming that the oil reserves of the Orinoco Belt are the largest in the world. However, has any independent party, from anywhere, verified Chávez’s claim?
Not too long ago, his regime also claimed that Venezuela had eradicated illiteracy. They threw UNESCO into the mix just like Bloomberg did with BP. However, all it takes to debunk that claim is a trip to any neighborhood in Caracas, yet the HSH had a field day parroting the BS that Venezuela is a “literacy-free country.” And all it took for me to discredit Bloomberg’s impossible assertion was a Google search, but by then, the lie was halfway around the world.
Needless to say, Bloomberg did not acknowledge or respond to my email. But they completely revised their misleading headline, removing the part “BP says” without issuing a clarification.
Now, I am not a journalist, nor do I claim to be one. But I ponder the reasons for using such complete fabrications from media outlets like Bloomberg. If the original headline is to be taken literally, my question to Bloomberg is: since when is BP an authoritative source for determining whether the oil reserves of one OPEC country have surpassed those of another OPEC country?
And if Bloomberg has realized the absolute absurdity of its original headline, now that it has edited BP’s statement, who actually claims that Venezuelan reserves have surpassed those of Saudi Arabia? I’ll tell you who—it’s what BP actually said: Hugo Chávez and officials from his regime.
In other news, Raúl Castro stated that Cuba fully complies with international human rights treaties…
Update: Rupert Rowling from Bloomberg replied to my email this morning (08:15:05 GMT). What follows is our exchange, at the time of this publication:
Subject: Re Venezuela Surpasses Saudis for Largest Oil Reserves, Says BP
From: [email protected] undefined
To: RUPERT ROWLING (BLOOMBERG/ PRESS ROOM:)
CC: STEVE VOSS (BLOOMBERG/ PRESS ROOM:)
At: 13/6 18:39:29
Dear Sirs,
Aside from your misleading title, please note at this link undefined
Sources
The estimates were compiled using a combination of primary official sources, third-party data from the OPEC Secretariat, World Oil, Oil & Gas Journal, and an independent estimate of reserves in Russia and China based on publicly available information. The Canadian oil sands ‘actively under development’ are an official estimate. The Venezuelan reserves in the Orinoco Belt are based on the OPEC Secretariat and government announcements.
Therefore, it is not BP that says Venezuela surpasses the Saudis, but the OPEC Secretariat (figures from the Venezuelan government) and the Venezuelan government’s own announcements. Have you bothered to question whether those figures have been independently verified?
Regards,
a guy
On June 14, 2012, at 08:15, RUPERT ROWLING (BLOOMBERG/ PRESS ROOM:) wrote:
Dear Mr. Boyd,
Thank you for your email. At the end of the article, you would have noticed the following paragraph.
BP stated that the estimates in yesterday’s report are a combination of official sources, OPEC data, and other third-party estimates. The deposits include gas condensates and natural gas liquids, as well as crude oil.
We are aware that the data comes from a collection of sources, but since it was published in BP’s Statistical Review yesterday, that’s why it appeared with the headline “… BP says.”
Best regards,
Rupert
From: Alek Boyd
Date: June 14, 2012 10:37:13 GMT+01:00
To: “RUPERT ROWLING (BLOOMBERG/ PRESS ROOM:)”
Subject: Re: Re Venezuela Surpasses Saudis for Largest Oil Reserves,
Dear Rupert,
Thank you for your response.
I noticed the very beginning of the paragraph you referred to, though I still think your choice of headline is utterly misleading.
A more appropriate one, reflecting the content of the press release and BP’s report, would have been “… OPEC says” which gets its numbers from Venezuela, or “… BP says citing OPEC/Venezuela sources,” or even “… Venezuela/Chávez says.”
All of those would negate the truthfulness and validity of the first part of your headline assertion, as none give it credit. Hence my email.
I assume you have been reporting on oil markets for a while; it would not be an exaggeration for me to suppose that you know just as well as any other experienced oil reporter/analyst that the claims from Venezuela/Chávez regarding oil are baseless. Not at all. Complete fabrications with no grounding in verifiable data.
So why would Bloomberg/you echo Chávez’s claims? Claims that, let me reiterate, no independent party has confirmed?
Best wishes,
Alek [email protected]>@gmail.com>