I'll tell you what, Barack. Go check out how that Venezuelan oil industry is doing.
Venezuela was what Obama and Hillary wanted for you and me and our kids and grandkids.
MAGA, baby. MAGA!
“Go check out how that Venezuelan oil industry is doing.”
After years of production declines, Venezuelan production has begun to rapidly collapse. December 2017 dropped 100,000 barrels per day from November 2017. In November, the socialist President of Venezuala replaced the head of the National oil company (PDVSA), installing a General with no oil experience, to conduct “a new oil revolution”.
Much of the talent has been purged, arrested, or has fled (many went to work the similarly thick Canadian oil sands deposits). PDVSA has defaulted on their bonds (Nov 2017) - now they have challenges borrowing or floating payments to fund continued operations, and creditors may soon start seizing their assets overseas (like Citgo), as well as tankers and shipments. The quality of their shipments has dropped significantly, causing a lot of customers to demand discounts or refunds. Platts reports “There is evidence of advanced stages of corrosion and deterioration in much of the country’s operational infrastructure, including pipelines, gas compression plants, crude upgraders, storage facilities and refineries.”
Venezuela is circling the drain. Their collapse of production is likely to continue through 2018, pushing global prices in the high end of the Shale band ($45-65). Oil recently cracked $70/barrel, which is fueling even more of a surge in US shale production (OPEC just raised its forecast of US output growth in 2018 to 820,000 new barrels per day).