this for visibility.

So while Rome burns Putin is spreading his tentacles.

Got Syria, neutered the USA, and now South America do you see a pattern here???

shutdown. This is all working out nicely for him.

This is all so convenient.

alert.

Countries With The Largest Proven Oil Reserves

(millions of barrels), 2017 US EIA

1 Venezuela 300,878
2 Saudi Arabia 266,455
3 Canada 169,709
4 Iran 158,400
5 Iraq 142,503
6 Kuwait 101,500
7 United Arab Emirates 97,800
8 Russia 80,000
9 Libya 48,363
10 United States 39,230
11 Nigeria 37,062
12 Kazakhstan 30,000
13 China 25,620
14 Qatar 25,244
15 Brazil 12,999
16 Algeria 12,200
17 Angola 8,273
18 Ecuador 8,273
19 Mexico 7,640
20 Azerbaijan 7,000

IIRC it's 'heavy' rather than 'light', which makes it more expensive to refine (and maybe less versatile? I forget), and the vast majority is located offshore and hence more dangerous and expensive to extract w/lower ERoEI than, say, Saudi Oil.

Of course there's also the crappy government + not very advanced facilities/equipment for extracting what's there.

transition away from that shit.

nt

in drilling in your neighborhood or favorite National Park.

Canada is on that list too.

Putin has oil in his veins.

This has been circulating for a few days. I don't vouch for the source.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/venezuela-intends-refine-tons-gold-turkey-amid-us-sanctions-378492428

Some Swiss guys I know that used to work for UBS inventoried part of Venezuela's gold stash in Caracas the 1980s, and later again in Havana. A certain California firm has been spending a lot of time in Toronto (Cuban trade embargo still largely in effect) getting the rarer older U.S. gold coins and selling them onto the US market for over a year now. Since they are being bought from a Canadian bank, and are originally US-made products, the transaction is perfectly legal under U.S, law, and no embargo applies (this was obviously run by a few legal departments before the sales began).

Will be interesting....

I bet the US oil Barons are pissed Putin has taken over.

There oil has been nationalised for years. And it is really shitty oil.

The glut in the oil market and the government destruction of their own ability to exploit the oil is killing them.

Venezuela is a hell hole ruled by a despot with the expected result.