Article

2019-02-01 Caribbean-Latin America

Glut of Tankers Stuck Off Venezuela as U.S. Sanctions Bite

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2019-02-01 13:07|| || Front Page|| [12 views ] Top

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2019-02-01 14:56|| 2019-02-01 14:56|| Front Page Top

#2 Zeihan has some pretty good analysis of geopolitics and has some interesting info on this:

Formally, about 32% of Venezuela’s crude oil exports end up in the United States, but this vastly understates how dependent Venezuela is upon the American market for a pair of reasons that can only be the normal state of operation in a country as broken as Venezuela has become.

Of the seven-tenths of Venezuela’s oil exports that do not flow to the United States, the majority – technically –goes to China and Russia. However, Venezuela gets no cash from these “sales.” Instead, the oil is accepted as payment-in-kind to whittle down the billions of dollars of loans those two countries have extended to Venezuela over the years. Nearly all this crude oil is then sold on to the American market where the Chinese and Russian intermediaries are paid in cash.

Bottom line 1: the direct sales to the United States are Venezuela’s primary source of income. Without them, Venezuela’s humanitarian/economic/political catastrophe – a mess that has already resulted in widespread famine – will become truly apocalyptic.

Bottom line 2: It is unclear if the new U.S. sanctions will touch these flows as well. If they do, the Chinese and Russians will be left holding gobs of crude they – and nearly anyone else on the planet – lack the capacity to refine. With no one able to take Venezuelan crude in appreciable volumes, PDVSA will have no choice but to shut down nearly all operations and experience a massive skilled labor bleed. That would add – at minimum – two years to any theoretical future recovery.

More is in the article and a lot on how US refineries are moving more toward shale crude and there is fewer and fewer refineries that can process the crap Venezuela crude.

Posted by DarthVader 2019-02-01 15:45|| 2019-02-01 15:45|| Front Page Top

#3 Darth---Read that article the other day that Peter Zeihan wrote. Yes, the implications are huge. Venezuela requires naptha or light crude to refine their heavy, sour crude. Very thick stuff. I would like to see Chicoms and Putin holding the bag with their pet thug Maduro.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2019-02-01 20:15|| 2019-02-01 20:15|| Front Page Top

22:05 DonM
21:44 Glomolet Fleating5494
20:55 trailing wife
20:54 SteveS
20:38 crazyhorse
20:33 Frank G
20:17 ruprecht
20:17 Alaska Paul
20:15 Alaska Paul
20:11 ruprecht
20:09 trailing wife
20:08 ruprecht
20:06 trailing wife
19:58 Frank G
19:32 DarthVader
18:58 Frank G
18:43 Zenobia Floger6220
18:32 g(r)omgoru
18:20 g(r)omgoru
17:45 Fred
17:37 Anguper Hupomosing9418
17:37 SteveS
17:26 Anguper Hupomosing9418
17:18 Anguper Hupomosing9418