Opec fears US domination
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The OPEC oil cartel could be forgiven for feeling a touch of paranoia. Iraq, where it was born in 1960, has been invaded and occupied by the United States, and now Washington hawks call for "regime change" in Iran , another founder member.
Venezuela blames America for backing a failed coup attempt last year, and some in the Pentagon question the US alliance with Saudi Arabia, linchpin of the cartel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has remained silent in the face of the threat to a growing number of its members, confining debate to the price of its oil.
Until now, that is. Venezuela, under the fiercely nationalist leadership of Hugo Chavez, has put the issue of sovereignty back to the top of the agenda at a recently revived long-term strategy meeting.
"We need to emphasize the idea that the world has left behind the colonial era, when one power could take by force the resources of another country," Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters after Wednesday's ministerial meeting in the Qatari capital.
"There are several countries which could feel threatened. "The proposal is some way from becoming policy of the group that controls half of world oil exports, and is unlikely to lead to any immediate threat to supplies. But the idea of tightening OPEC's grip over two-thirds of the world's oil reserves, and seeking to avoid military attack, has awakened interest from other members. "Of course, it is a serious concern that OPEC members with big oil reserves will become occupied by foreign powers," said a delegate from another of the 11-member group.
CREEPING BACK: OPEC made its name in the 1970s by nationalizing the Western-controlled oil companies in their countries, and forcing the industrialized world to pay higher prices for oil imports. But western capital has been creeping back into OPEC since the 1980s, while the United States, anxious to secure cheap supplies, has increased its military and political influence in key members such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and recently Iraq.
Under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, OPEC has traded the revolutionary rhetoric of the 1970s for talk of partnership with consuming countries in the West. Some in the cartel think the scale has tipped too far in favour of Washington and see the Iraq war as a bad omen.
"The United States can't continue to invent wars. We want to have a deal with the world powers - we will supply oil and gas, but you can't invade my country - after Iraq, who is next?" said an OPEC delegate, asking not to be named.
The Venezuelan proposal is to link the long-held OPEC principle of security of oil supply to the national security of OPEC nations themselves. If approved by OPEC ministers, it would be tabled at the next summit of OPEC heads of state, due to be held in 2005.
Some delegates believe that unless OPEC rediscovers its ideological roots - asserting sovereignty over its natural resources - the cartel could be destroyed by a resurgent US foreign policy, combined with the financial power of four "supermajor" oil companies.
The discussion could be welcomed by some members such as Iran and Libya, which are already under US sanctions, but face opposition from Saudi Arabia, which excludes politics from OPEC debates, partly to make the group a more focused market manager.
ECONOMIC WARFARE: Given the current climate in Washington, any attempt to give OPEC a more political agenda could also give fuel to critics who see the cartel is an instrument of economic warfare against the world's only superpower.
"We are trying not to let this get too political," said a delegate from a pro-US member. Venezuelan OPEC officials believe that country's experience with foreign investment in the 1990s, and what it sees as Washington's hand behind last year's coup attempt, could be repeated all over OPEC.
"We said that the case of Venezuela could be repeated in other OPEC members with very negative results, destabilizing countries," said Luis Vierma, Venezuela's deputy oil minister, who presented the ideas earlier in June.
Venezuela has also proposed that OPEC reinforce its sovereign powers by establishing a minimum royalty rate across the group, which has two-thirds of the world's oil reserves.
Royalty, a tax on gross production, has been a largely academic issue in OPEC since nationalization, because the producing companies have became fully owned by the OPEC states.
But they have become a hot topic again as foreign investment grows, especially because royalties have been eroded or even abolished in non-OPEC producers like Britain.
Income tax, which taxes profit rather than production, are more popular outside OPEC. Venezuela under Chavez has hiked its royalty rate to 30 per cent, but many other OPEC states have agreed to discounts to attract Western capital.