US Threatens To Eliminate Trade With Venezuela If It Provides Snowden With Asylum

[Catherina]

114. Gawd they are so tone-deaf. You chart is the neoliberals' dream come true

Washington will also begin prosecuting prominent Venezuelan politicians on allegations of drug trafficking, money laundering and other criminal actions, Kerry reportedly said, and specifically mentioned some names in his conversation with the Venezuelan FM.

He further said that Washington is well aware of Venezuela’s dependence on the US when it comes to refined oil products. Despite being one of the world’s largest oil producers, Venezuela requires more petrol and oil products than it can produce, buying around 500,000 barrels of gasoline every month, roughly another half million barrels of fuel for power plants, and some 350,000 barrels of MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether) – the additive used for to increase octane in gasoline.

The US Secretary of State bluntly warned that fuel supplies would be halted if President Maduro continues to reach out to the fugitive NSA contractor.

Neither the US State Department nor the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry have so far commented on ABC’s report.

http://rt.com/news/kerry-threatens-venezuela-snowden-308/

Meanwhile, you have to wonder why the US refuses to hear the ALBA countries' CLEAR message that they don't care, they don't need us. How many times have they made that clear?

First they have their own refinery

The Paraguaná Refinery Complex (Spanish: Centro de Refinación de Paraguaná) is a crude oil refinery complex in Venezuela. It is considered the world's second largest refinery complex, just after Jamnagar Refinery in India. The Paraguaná Refinery Complex was created by the fusion of Amuay Refinery, Bajo Grande Refinery and Cardón Refinery.[1] As of 2012, it refines 955 thousand barrels per day (151,800 m3/d).[2] The complex is located in the Paraguaná Peninsula in Falcón state (Amuay and Cardón refineries) and the western coast of Lake Maracaibo in the Zulia state (Bajo Grande Refinery).[3] The complex accounts for 71% of the refining capacity of Venezuela and it belongs to the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguan%C3%A1_Refinery_Complex

and they're building more with the help of the Chinese

CNPC, Venezuela joint refinery set for 2014 opening

China National Petroleum Corp said on Wednesday that its Guangdong-based mega joint refinery with Venezuelan partner Petroleos de Venezuela SA started construction last Friday and is set to open by the end of 2014.

The 58.6-billion-yuan ($9.3 billion) project, in which CNPC will hold a 60 percent stake and the PDVSA will hold the remaining 40 percent, has a designed annual processing capacity of 20 million metric tons, or 400,000 barrels a day, making it the country's biggest integrated refining complex ever built at once.

The project will process Merey-16 heavy oil from Venezuela, China's fourth-biggest crude oil supplier in the first quarter.

It will mainly produce gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, CNPC said.

...
http://www.china.org.cn/business/2012-05/03/content_25290715.htm

And Russia. And lol India.

Russia deepens Venezuela oil ties

by: Geoff Hiscock
From: The Australian
February 14, 2013 9:51AM

WHILE the United States forges ahead with its shale-led energy revolution, Russia is steadily building up its stake in the oil industry of Venezuela, where anti-American rhetoric has been the hallmark of now-ailing leader Hugo Chavez’s 14-year rule.

Igor Sechin, president of Russia’s state-owned oil giant Rosneft, declared last month the oil-rich South American country would be the main focus of Rosneft’s overseas investments.

Under a series of accords signed during Sechin’s visit to Venezuela on January 29-30, Russia will commit to invest up to $US40 billion in jointly exploiting the Orinoco extra-heavy oil belt -- regarded as one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves -- with Venezuela’s state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).

The US Geological Survey estimated in 2010 that the Orinoco belt, a 600-km strip straddling the Orinoco River in the central-eastern part of Venezuela, held 513 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. According to OPEC statistics, Venezuela’s proven reserves stand at 296 billion barrels, the largest in the world.

...

Indian private sector giant Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), led by India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, is another investor in Venezuelan oil and gas projects, and is considered likely to commit a further $2 billion this year to more exploration and development of Orinoco oil belt prospects.

Last October Reliance signed a 15-year heavy crude oil supply contract and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PDVSA to further develop Venezuela’s heavy oil fields. Under the contract, PDVSA will supply between 300,000 and 400,000 barrels a day of Venezuelan heavy crude to Reliance’s two refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat state.

...

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/russia-deepens-venezuela-oil-ties/story-e6frg9df-1226577701328