Vast gasoline lines form in oil-rich Venezuela

AP ^ | 5/19/2019 | SCOTT SMITH and SHEYLA URDANETA

[Kozak]

Kozak wrote:
You mean that collection of 1950’s beaters they run in Cuba with bailing wire and spit?

But, credit to them - those cars are running.

Ingenuity at its finest!

Desperation. It’s that are tow them with donkeys.

[woodbutcher1963]

That is similar to Toyota and Nissan/Datsun 4WD pickup trucks in third world countries.

In 1999 I bought a new Toyota Tacoma. I advertised and sold my 1988 Toyota for $2500.

I had two guys call that wanted to know if it would pass inspection. Of course, I said to both. The first one wished me luck and have a nice day. The second guy I inquired as to why he asked. He stated that if it would not pass inspection he would still buy it for $1000 and ship it to Central America. He could fit four into a container and would sell them down there for a good profit. He also stated there were other guys that shipped to Asia and did the same thing.

So, when the US invaded Afghanistan what do I see but a bunch of guys with turbans riding around in old Toyota pick up trucks with a machine gun in back. This led me to proudly proclaim:
Toyota Tacoma: Official Vehicle of the Taliban.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Plus their oil isn’t good oil, like light sweet crude used for gas and for petroleum by-products. It’s heavy, sticky and mostly good for roofing tiles.

[Tea Party Terrorist]

Many of them have Lada engines

[Svartalfiar]

Sanctions that somehow prevent Venezuela from pumping their own oil?

Yes and no. Sanctions block them from getting outside assistance for maintenance, of both oil infrastructure, and electrical grid. (No power, no oil!) And, it's not just pumping your own oil, it's also a matter of refining it, which is an entirely different process, and requires quite a lot of other materials as well. I have no idea how much of that stuff Venezuela has on its own. Following is from 2016, and I'm sure the issues are only worse now, especially since their biggest? power plant lost some turbines or something recently.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-refinery-operations-pdvsa-idUSKCN0XN2RS

Output has dropped at the crisis-hit OPEC country’s refineries in recent months, with critics blaming shortages of spare parts, lack of maintenance, and a shaky electrical grid.
...
“At the weekend we were producing at around 25 percent, nothing more,” lamented a worker at Amuay.
...
The malfunctioning of several loading arms at Jose port has led to a backlog of tankers for the last month, according to a union leader and Thomson Reuters data.
...
In addition, Venezuela’s steep economic recession has crimped PDVSA’s ability to pay contractors and service companies.
...
This month, U.S. oil services firm Halliburton Co and Schlumberger, the world’s No. 1 oil services company, said they were curtailing or reducing activity in Venezuela.

[samtheman]

Very informative. Thanks

[Springman]

Bump for later.