Venezuela 'ends' bid to restore full US ties

[MADem]

28. Are you having trouble with the written word? Where did I EVER say such a thing?

They have dozens of refineries, but they don't have any that can handle VZ oil. It's a specialty product owing to its composition.

The process for refining heavy and sour oil is onerous, and there is a LOT of waste product associated with it.

For this reason, heavy and sour oils are CHEAP. You pay less for unrefined VZ oil than you would for SA light/sweet, for example.

Heavy, sour oils are also not economical to transport in their unrefined state--at least not too far--because there is so much waste associated with the product. VZ has done a lot of their refining in USA to this point, because it's not too far away, and in USA there is better plant maintenance and the quality and timeliness of production is predictable.

I think China should invest by fixing up those VZ refineries, and then they can help themselves to all that oil as a way to pay down all that debt they're owed. That way the Chinese can keep their economy clanking along for the near term. Maybe they'll throw a few bones to Maduro along the way.

We'll see how much better Maduro gets along with those guys.