Venezuelan oil can’t just be pumped and used. It’s dirty stuff that needs steps to clean. When Chavez confiscated the oil industry, the US companies overseeing extraction and refining disappeared, leaving a processing vacuum that was never filled.
This oil-for-bitcoin thing smells as sure as a 90-yard field goal attempt.
“...Venezuelan oil can’t just be pumped and used. It’s dirty stuff that needs steps to clean. When Chavez confiscated the oil industry, the US companies overseeing extraction and refining disappeared, leaving a processing vacuum that was never filled....”
BINGO!! Nail, meet hammer. The stupid POS confiscated american assets and technology that was key in keeping their economy afloat. The Americans basically had no choice but to write it off as a loss and pull out. The problem was, Chavez didn’t have the talent and experience available to fill the vacuum. Liberals/Socialists/Communists are stupid.
The Venezuelan oil company still has 2 refineries in the US (Corpus Christie, TX and Lake Charles, LA) that were engineered & designed to handle Venezuelan crude oil. They can also handle the tar sands crude as well (Keystone Pipeline). And I believe it was just last month that I read a news article that they were being looked at to be “nationalized” and held for sale to US entities to keep Russian/Chinese investors from acquiring them.
IMHO, Chavez totally screwed over his country and it’s people. That’s what libs/socialists/communists do best. And yeah, we’ll probably have to go back in there at some point to bail em out; not for the sake of the current govt, but for the people. Only this time, our assets and interests need to be protected...BIG TIME.
Pre Chavez Venezuela built one of the best refineries in the world to handle these heavy crudes. This refinery is now operating at minimal capacity and is in disrepair.It should also be noted that pre Chavez, Venezuela had the highest standard of living in South America. There were no shortages of anything. People were not hungry and desperate.