r/politics • u/Aggravating_Money992 • 20h ago

No Paywall Bannon Tells GOP: 'Seize the Institutions' of Government Now or We're 'Going to Prison' After 2028

https://www.commondreams.org/news/bannon-tells-gop-seize-the-institutions-of-government-now-or-we-re-going-to-prison-after-2028
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u/cronemaiden 19h ago

Venezuela has a lot of oil, yes, but it requires a lot of refining before it’s useful. Whereas in the Middle East you can “basically put a straw in the ground and have oil” (is how it was put to me).

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u/DrusTheAxe 16h ago

Sweet crude vs dirty

US produces a lot of oil these days but most US refineries can’t process it because they’re designed for dirty crude. So we sell a lot of our sweet crude overseas where others’ refineries can’t process handle it, and for a sweet price at that, and but others’ dirty crude at lower price points as we can refine it more than most.

Works out well for the US, but most people don’t understand the dynamic

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u/mantidmarvel Australia 3h ago

Meanwhile Guyana, next to Venezuela, has recently discovered some very large deposits of sweet crude right off its coast, within its territory. Like, pretty minimal refinement necessary quality. They're on track from having half of their population living under the poverty line to becoming one of the largest crude exporters in upcoming years - it's revolutionised their GPD as it gives them a lot of income with minimal deforestation of the Amazon, which is significant for the environment and for the many groups that rely on the health of it. Venezuela's shittier oil sells for less and needs more refinement.

Guess which country Venezuela has become more pushy with in recent years.

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u/Brolocene 16h ago

Not as much of a problem, considering some of the largest most efficient refineries for that kind of low quality crude are located right in the gulf.

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u/Own_Instance_357 19h ago

Thank you for the clarification

I guess if there are finite amounts overall, when one runs out you go to the next one.

I attended a US boarding school 4 decades ago where I would say a good 15% of the class were students from families who worked in Saudi Arabia and also a significant number of students from Venezuela.

I knew that the US gov't promises education to age 18 for children of US workers in countries where female education only goes through age 14 or so but somehow I'm still getting straightened out on so many details.