Last Tuesday, two nonprofit Massachusetts energy groups signed an agreement to buy heating oil at discount prices from Venezuela, where Hugo Chavez, a frequent critic of the Bush administration, is president. Citgo, the American arm of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, will provide 12 million barrels at 40 percent below market prices to the nonprofits, which will distribute them to low-income state residents. Chavez has struck a similar deal with a congressman from the South Bronx.

Could it happen here? City Paper asked Liz Robinson, the executive director of the Energy Coordinating Agency, a local group dedicated to providing low-income people with energy and water.

City Paper: Could Philadelphia buy oil from Venezuela the way other municipalities have? Should it?

Liz Robinson: Well, we're trying to do that right now. We've sent off some inquiries. One of ECA's program activities is energy assistance for low-income people. We've been providing some oil, donated through Sunoco, to low-income homes. The story about the oil ran on TV … and we were flooded with applications. We've spent down the half million [that Sunoco donated], and now we've got 1,000 applications sitting on our desk upstairs.

CP: Where does Venezuela come in?

LR: There's another funder who I can't name because the deal hasn't been made final. They would be giving money instead of oil—about $100,000. So this time, we're out shopping. If we could buy the oil at less than full retail price, that's our goal.

CP: Who have you contacted?

LR: We have put in an inquiry to see exactly how the arrangement works, and whether Venezuela would entertain Philadelphia as the next city. We've got the poverty level, and among low-income people, we have a very high penetration of oil-heat homes. We've been in touch with the people in those other cities trying to figure out who the contact is with Citgo.

CP: Would you have any qualms, or would anyone complain, about you working with Hugo Chavez?

LR: I don't think so. We're simply trying to find the lowest price oil. Normally we don't create a demand we can't meet—the response to this program has been so great, and we have applications from people who fully expected us to provide them with oil.

CP: When would you know if this deal will materialize?

LR: I'm not certain. But the motion to expand LIHEAP funding at the state level is extraordinarily promising. This oil piece is very small in comparison.