US sells oil to OPEC nations. Venezuela with pants around its ankles... again.

Oil World Turns Upside Down as U.S. Sells Oil in Middle East
By Sheela Tobben and Wael Mahdi
February 6, 2018, 3:58 PM CST Updated on February 7, 2018, 8:05 AM CST

The United Arab Emirates, a model Persian Gulf petro-state where endless billions from crude exports feed a giant sovereign wealth fund, isn’t the most obvious customer for Texan oil.

Yet, in a trade that illustrates how the rise of the American shale industry is upending energy markets across the globe, the U.A.E. bought oil directly from the U.S. in December, according to data from the federal government. A tanker sailed from Houston and arrived in the Persian Gulf last month.

The cargo of American condensate, a type of very light crude oil, was preferred to regional grades because its superior quality made more suitable for the U.A.E’s processing plants, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing a commercially sensitive matter.

“As a member of OPEC and a large crude producer, I would imagine they would be very self-sufficient in their own crude supply,” said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC. The purchases of U.S. oil aren’t likely to continue, given the U.A.E.’s own supply, Lipow said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-06/u-s-oil-heads-to-middle-east-in-latest-sign-of-shale-s-spread

This is EXACTLY what has happened to Venezuela.

Venezuela is awash in crude oil, but the vast vast majority of it is heavy sour, full of sulfur and various contaminations. It is impossible to pump without first mixing it with light, sweet crude (which it must import from the United States) or some other diluant that they don't have, nor can they manufacture. The oil they can pump out of the ground, they cannot refine, due to wholesale incompetence and neglect of the infrastructure. (Did I mention corruption? TRILLIONS of dollars siphoned off by the Chavistas to line their own pockets while +85% of the population worries about where their next meal will come from.)

Venezuela's biggest problem right now is its uncanny ability to piss off its trading partners, notably the United States. Citgo (the Venezuelan oil refining concern that is about to be foreclosed on) CAN refine diluants and ship it back to Venezuela, but because of Chavismo, access to this needed product is about to be cut off.

But Maduro has it all under control, as he can sing better than Columbia's presidente, and he can play the bongos! Very handy things when it comes time for selecting a Supreme Leader!