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(Please note that this was written in February 2019. None of the arguments have changed or needed to be changed, unlike the constantly shifting pro-Brexit “messaging”).TL;DRIf we recognise that No Deal Brexit involves a significant re-configuration of the UK’s current economy and trading practices, then any “logical rational reason” needs to be quantifiable and justifiable as worthwhile to the country as a whole. It is not the same as the logic involved with helping an old lady cross the road or doing something grumpy just because you woke up with a hangover. This is simply because it is not logical or rational to disrupt an entire economy and 63 million people’s lives based on fallacies, vague assumptions, grouses, personal dissatisfactions, hidden motives, etc. (as then there is no way to quantify the benefits, if any).Bearing the above in mind, let’s now explore some common supposedly “rational reasons” why people want No Deal Brexit.“Reason” 1Here is a common one: “Because the UK voted to leave the EU.”I acknowledge it is a fact that 52% of voters chose to leave the EU. However, please let me propose another example of such a “fact”, which goes:Let’s say someone called Boris, promises to a group of people that they will get a free lunch every day cooked by Gordon Ramsay, and all they have to do to get quality free lunches is just vote for “Free Lunch”. Needless to say, “Free Lunch” won the vote. And these people winning the vote for a free lunch would be an undeniable fact.However, Boris has never talked with Gordon Ramsay, Boris does not know how much Mr Ramsay will charge, Boris has no idea what sort of dishes the voters like to eat, and worst of all: Boris does not have any money or budget anyway. But his voters still want to believe that the fact that they voted for free lunches is relevant, even though they realise by now that Boris can never deliver them anything, let alone free lunches from a world-class cook.In short, all the Brexit promises were made by people with no responsibility or capacity or understanding of how to deliver any of the conflicting promises. That is why Brexit promises often conflict with each other and reality - they are just empty words made up by people who have no ownership of the problems they cause because they do not have to deliver anything.The question therefore is, Are “facts” like this relevant? Clearly not when no feasible delivery mechanism is available - it’s even worse than “the cheque’s in the post”. Accepting No Deal therefore would be like picking up and eating grass after being promised free fine lunches. It is actually a quantifiable negative reason to not want No Deal Brexit under any circumstances because believing in an undeliverable “fact” is the same as believing a lie and it actually places you in a worse situation. Here is an example:For those who still fret about the principle of “democracy”, consider this: the Brexit situation is like asking passengers on a plane to vote for which landing strip they want to land on at the destination airport. Although it is very important to land the plane, the passengers are not qualified to know how weather, winds, other traffic, runway conditions, availability of ground staff, etc, would affect the safety of the plane. In cases like this, democracy is useless and in fact, downright dangerous and meaningless. Democracy works only when people are well-informed, and not ignorant about what they are voting for.Even the Leave campaign admitted their lies to the UK public: Vote Leave director admits they won because they lied to the publicThe following “reasons” may also help you understand more.“Reason” 2Another common argument is that there is nothing to worry about: “There will be teething trouble, but there are no drivers for long-term prolonged economic disruption.”Note the complete lack of any information about “teething trouble” or the duration of “long-term”. However, we have actual data about the cost of Brexit even before the “teething trouble” period begins, and it is 2% of GDP, or £40 billion, or roughly £800 million a week. This data comes from the authority monitoring the UK’s economic performance, the Bank of England. Importantly, it reflects what has actually happened and is not a forecast. Brexit uncertainty costs UK £800m a week, Cost of Brexit to UK economy running at £40bn a year – Bank rate-setter, Brexit already costing UK £800m per weekThe Bank of England also states that it expects this under-performance to continue for a “teething trouble” period of unknown length in a No Deal Brexit.So what about “long-term”? In a No Deal situation, it would be imperative to sign up new trade agreements, and five years for a large trade deal would be optimistic. Also we will need at least three large deals to compensate for losing the EU. Although this analysis had sounded dire when it was originally written as it assumed a -1.1% hit on GDP, the reality of -2.0% makes the calculated expected cost to the UK of £129.565 billion over five years look almost cheap now:What is the arithmetic of Brexit?There is to date no similar analysis provided by Leave voters that can determine what “long-term” means or the plausible benefits after such a vague period. Nobody can even list which industries will benefit from a No Deal Brexit.The best Leave can do is this bungling forecast, easily debunked, just by looking at the real data:What will the long-term impact of Brexit be on the UK economy?“Reason” 3A popular argument is that the UK will be freed from the shackles of EU laws: “It allows the UK to diverge from the EU’s trade and regulatory policy. Divergence from the EU’s trade and regulatory policy is exactly where all the benefits of Brexit are to be found. No deal allows us to start working on them immediately.”There is a huge plausibility deficit in this EU regulatory argument (which also smacks of the “sovereignty” argument), and the deficit can be exposed quite easily. In the decades of UK being a member of the EU, the UK has objected to only 72 EU regulations out of 4,514 proposed. The entire list is here: The 72 laws the UK voted againstThe argument of running free of EU regulation means that each and every one of these laws have had a negative economic impact on the UK, so a diligent Leave voter should be able to place a value on each of the 72 laws.So, as examples, the UK voted againstA ban on livestock growth-boosters with hormonal, thyrostatic or beta-agonist effects (carcinogenic residue in meat) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:01996L0022-20081218&from=ITSafety advisers dealing with transport of dangerous goods on public roads must be properly trained and regulated https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:31996L0035&from=ENTrucks for livestock journeys over 8 hours must have bedding, feed, water, ventilation, partitions and access for inspectors EUR-Lex - 31998R0411 - EN - EUR-LexTherefore, what is the calculated loss to the UK? If there is such an urgent need to break free of such laws, then what is the benefit to the UK of voting against a human anti-cancer directive? Has anyone done any calculations at all? I would suggest not, else we would have seen them by now. In the absence of any quantifiable benefits, this is a spurious contrived argument. In any case, Ireland also has the English legal system and they have absolutely no problems working within the EU.But. There is a even worse outcome once we are free of EU regulations. In a No Deal Brexit situation, the UK would be desperate to sign trade agreements with other large countries - it would simply be a fact as the UK needs to trade, or collapse economically. Each and every of the 163 other countries in the WTO know this, and they will extract a price, especially the big economic sharks such as the USA, China and Japan.To put it simply, larger countries will want concessions from the UK, to protect their businesses, their citizens, their investments - and they will want these protections written into UK law.Read that again please: Our new trade partners will require laws which benefit their interests over the interests of the UK before they will do trade deals. That is because they are not stupid. They are large sharks circling a wounded small fish without any trade deals.The simple issue is, once we've left the EU and can “make our own rules”, wouldn't our (new) trading partners then also be involved in making these rules? If our telecoms rules don't suit AT&T or other US telecoms companies, what makes you think the UK government will adopt different rules relative to the ones demanded by our new (and possibly new largest) trading partners, especially if we urgently need a FTA with them?In short, it's all very noble and grand to claim to think of the “interests” of the UK, but the reality is that ALL such interests are linked significantly to those of our big trading partners. If they are happy, then only can we afford to be happy unless we are much bigger sharks than they are, in which case we impose our rules on them first if they don’t have something that we want more.For example, peace is in the interest of the UK, but that doesn't stop the UK selling arms to the Saudis for use in destroying Yemen, an already impoverished country. We want Saudi money more than peace and human rights in Yemen - so the Saudis make us ignore our own principles (UK's Saudi weapons sales unlawful). Food safety is in the interest of the UK, but the UK isn’t even able to object to the US demand that all standards must be dropped prior to opening trade negotiations.What many Leavers are proposing therefore is just exceptionalism without the quantification. Hence it is extraordinarily difficult to justify - it is the same as wandering into a minefield without even an indication of the number of mines under your feet.However, in the EU, we are in an organisation large enough to be able to force even the USA to lower medicine prices. The rationale for staying within a big trade bloc is tangible, as we avoid hormone beef, pus-laden dairy products, chlorinated chickens, overpriced medicines, etc. Instead, we will soon have: Trump threatens to use US trade talks to force NHS to pay more for drugs and Trump tells May to abandon 'unjustified' food standards for Brexit trade deal.Trade department would lobby for government to accept Trump's demands for weaker food hygiene after Brexit, Whitehall memo saysWhere’s the sovereignty when another country can force you to eat what the EU considers to be substandard food? Where’s even the dignity in that?The iron fist in the USA’s gloves have also been exposed recently: Brexit Wish-List For Trump: What US Lobbyists Want From A Trade Deal With The UKLatest is US tells Britain: Fall into line over China and Huawei, or no trade dealAnd the actual terms the US are demanding from the UK are downloadable on Summary of Specific US-UK Negotiating ObjectivesThe above is all supported in a video interview with the US ambassador: WATCH: US ambassador says the NHS will be 'on the table' in a post-Brexit trade dealAnd to ram home the point, we now see that even Mr Johnson is “disappointed”: Boris Johnson 'disappointed' as Trump aims tariffs at UK productsAs for relying on the US as a “partner”, one might like assess the reliability of such a “partner”, thus:Trump threatens to drop Isis fighters at UK border: 'Have fun capturing them again'The UK will also lose the benefits of the EU’s huge bargaining power which has kept the prices of foreign medications in check, saving money and ensuring supply. Left alone, the UK will face situations such as this:Trump Administration Is Waiving the Public’s Right to Affordable Coronavirus TreatmentsTherein ends that argument.One final point. Some people are led to believe that the EU is some form of oppressive force against the “freedom of the UK.” This is such a lame insulting argument to the people of Turkey, Yemen, Syria, Venezuela, etc, where there is real oppression of the people, where people starve and die every single day, sometimes supported by UK arms sales. UK citizens who believe this imbecilic lie should be ashamed that getting £5 billion a year from the EU for regeneration projects can be twisted into some form of “oppression”. Also look at Reason 5 below.“Reason” 4A lot has been said about unfair EU tariffs, which are not attuned to the UK’s needs: “The UK will be able to immediately be able to cut the EU’s tariffs on food, clothing and footwear and diverge from its VAT rules. This will allow for rapid reductions in the cost of essentials and this will disproportionately benefit the poor.”I have to agree that not all EU tariffs are fine-tuned to suit the UK, but that is because the UK is part of a large group of countries. I am not making excuses, but just spelling out the reality.However, what Leave voters do not define is the actual impact of leaving the EU to trade under WTO rules. For example, the UK may well cut tariffs on food, clothing and footwear and that may indeed help low-income shoppers at Morrisons and Primark if it was not for the fact that the over 15% drop in sterling has already pushed up prices for the poor people these Leave voters claim to care about. It also does not mention that the EU tariffs for clothes are under 12% and footwear at 4%, both less than what sterling has fallen by. Once again, fine words, but actual quantification proves that it is a spurious argument.But, the impact actually is not only on imports which can get waived through on zero tariffs, but on exports which will now encounter Most Favoured Nation tariffs from all the countries in the WTO in the absence of trade agreements.So let’s quantify just one UK sector: Farming. And it will be easy because Parliament has already done it for us on points 15–19 in their own review of the impact: Brexit: Trade in Food15. The average EU tariff on dairy products is over 30%, while tariffs could be as high as 87% for frozen beef. Some other examples include a tariff of 46% for cheese or 21% for tomatoes. Some individual products have tariffs over 100%.16. Witnesses told us that tariff-free access to the EU was “crucial”. Tariffs would have a detrimental impact on those agricultural sectors that were dependent on EU exports for their profitability.17. We heard particular concerns about the impact of tariffs on the sheep sector. The EU is very important for UK sheep meat exports, with more than 95% of its export volume destined for the EU. The Welsh lamb market is very dependent on the EU market, with 92% of exports (by value) and 85% (by volume) destined for the EU.18. Sheep exports, with a tariff of at least 50%, would become uncompetitive on the EU market. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) told us that this would have a “devastating” effect on the sector. The Andersons Centre estimated that in Northern Ireland alone, exports to the EU would drop by about 90%. It would have serious consequences in Wales, where sheep farming was such a vital part of the Welsh economy, with producer prices estimated to decrease by 30%.19. The EU market is also important to the beef market, with more than 90% of UK beef exports shipped to other EU countries in 2015/16Additionally, if food is allowed in on zero or low tariffs, then that is the end of most of the UK’s farming industry.And this does not even cover the extreme likelihood of serious problems to do with the transportation/haulage industry. If WTO rules are such a good idea, as proposed by the ERG, then why do nations seek free trade agreements?So, yet another case of fine words, but they make no sense once we attempt quantification.For more detailed explanations about the WTO fallacies regularly trotted out by Leavers, their ignorance is clearly exposed in this great link: Brexit and Trade: An Interviewer's Guide to Exposing Nonsense — ExplainTradeBut that is not the end of the problem with the loss of free movement. A high proportion of the goods transported between the EU and the UK are consolidated consignments, mixed pallets or other forms of groupages. Each item in such mixed loads needs to have individual customs declarations filled in, and will contribute to the estimated 250 million new paper or electronic forms complicating shipments at an estimated cost of £12 billion which will be passed to consumers. And then such new formalities will lead to delays of potentially weeks, resulting in new requirements such as the largest lorry park in Europe being built in Kent. No European freight company will want to transport goods to the UK, especially without knowing when their trucks would be able to return.“Reason” 5We pay the EU for “nothing”. Very often we hear Leave voters say things like: “There is no net benefit for Britain paying into the EU. Britain is a net contributor nation, so Britain would be far better off keeping the net money which is currently lost to other EU states.”Again, this is easy to disprove because it is possible to quantify the real benefit of being in the EU. The analysis is summarised as follows:The simple reality is that a net benefit of between 4%–5% of our GDP is derived from being a member of the EU. This equates to a tangible economic benefit of £62 billion to £78 billion a year. In relative terms, the UK currently derives between +660% to +830% return on its contribution to the EU. It may be more but it is very unlikely to be less. Membership of the EU also raises well over £20 billion a year in tax revenues which can be spent on the country. In tax revenues terms alone, the UK derives between 220% to 276% return on its contribution.The full analysis is on:Are Brexit supporters correct or wrong to assume there's no net benefit of paying into the EU?“Reason” 6Some Leavers have a way with words, such as: “You will no longer have it your way. You are going to feel threatened as we have felt threatened. You can lose your hope as we lost ours.”Clearly there can be no quantification of such a “reason”, but it does not mean we should ignore it. And without doing the maths for once, some suggestions for answers are (i) Is the UK doomed to becoming meaner and angrier no matter how Brexit turns out? and (ii) Is Brexit a symptom or the cause of the political turmoil we are currently seeing in the UK?As for any democracy “deficit” with the EU, I suggest you review what the UK government has done to our democracy to date. These are all undeniable facts:UK versus EU democracy“Reason” 7Many Leavers often moan abstractly that the UK joined a trade bloc in 1973 and did not subscribe to becoming more integrated into the EU. This is an unfair, revisionist view and patently not true as shown in the following letter to the people written by the Prime Minister in 1972 before the UK signed up to join the EEC:And there was another referendum held about EEC membership later on Thursday 5 June 1975, and UK voters approved continued EC/EEC membership by 67% to 33% on a national turnout of 64%.From a chronological viewpoint to explain this result, the facts are that in 1950, UK’s per capita GDP was almost a third larger than the EU6 average. But by 1973, it was about 10% below the EU6 average when it joined the EC. It has then risen within less than a decade of joining and have been comparatively stable ever since.The UK joined in 1973 and one common Leave point is that this act prompted a recession later that year which continued into 1974. The implication is the economic impact was so bad that joining the EC prompted an immediate recession. However, they never mention the widespread industrial actions happening all around the UK that year; they pretend that nation-stopping strikes did not have any economic impact, nor the serious oil crisis at the time. They even seem to be able to forget the 3-Day Week which the country had to impose: Three-Day WeekLeavers then also claim joining the EU killed off the “extant markets” of the UK. By this, they mean the Commonwealth (which had already started to stop trading with the UK) and/or the free trade area integration idea which never worked in the first place; in short, nobody cared about the UK’s economic plight.So, in that case, how would a Leaver explain the change from a negative 10% economic underperformance to parity and above within a decade or so? I mean, what was the single significant event that tipped the balance and got the UK economy going in the 1970s? Is it possibly joining the EC? Else what was the UK going to do? Even the IMF would not lend to the UK.As for the UK’s much-maligned EU membership fee (the next Leave misinformed argument), even Vote Leave figured out it was still beneficial to pay it:Are Brexit supporters correct or wrong to assume there's no net benefit of paying into the EU?So in light of the facts and history, it is staggering that these ill-informed people can still offer any credibility to Minford and co:What will the long-term impact of Brexit be on the UK economy?“Reason” 8Some of the economic arguments for Brexit claim that the EU has a continuously shrinking share of the global market, and the economic share of world GDP is a line continuously going downwards. This is totally true and is an undeniable fact. However, every G7 country’s share of global GDP is also falling, and this is because most of the less developed countries around the world are finally catching up on economic growth.Regardless of the falling global GDP share of the EU, the UK had the best growing economy of all the G7 countries for years, so saying the EU has been a drag on the UK is like saying Gordon Ramsay’s 3-Michelin star restaurant is rubbish because the same street has 10 bad restaurants. There is simply no correlation or link. In the following chart, note how well the UK has been doing in the years before the referendum, and this is a chart of the UK against the biggest economies of the world, not the EU:However, Leavers also promote the fallacy that because the world outside the EU is growing faster economically than the EU, that this is somehow a good reason to leave as we can trade more outside the EU. But this is a ridiculous, shallow, egoistic fallacy, and the explanation is as follows:The world’s population is 7 billion, of which around 80% earn less than $10 a day. The figures for people earning more than $10 is harder to quantify as there is little research available, but let’s assume, from simple extrapolation, that less than 10% earn more than $50 a day (£38.50 a day, £192 a week, £10,000 a year) - in reality, the steepening of the wealth curve implies a much lower number than 10%, but let’s never mind about it and stick with an optimistic 10%. Nearly Half the World Lives on Less than $5.50 a DayNote also that in 2016, the poverty line in the UK was annual incomes of £15,000 or less: The poverty line in BritainThat optimistically-estimated 10% of the world earning $50 a day or more gives a population of around 700 million around the world who can actually potentially afford to purchase the high-quality expensive secondary goods/services that the UK produces. The populous Far East already produces most, if not all, of the goods/services that the UK offers (and at lower costs) so there are few unique selling points for UK products there. Probably ditto for the USA, especially under Trump. That leaves a huge wealthy bloc called the EU, which we want to leave. So if you consider the actual size of the markets available to the UK outside the EU (700 million - 450 million EU citizens = 250 million people), the reality is that we are already dealing with most of these non-EU markets already.And before anyone mentions UK’s exports of services, here are the facts: “Europe has been a major destination for UK exports of services; this trend continued in 2017 when UK exports of services to Europe (£80,938 million) accounted for nearly half of the overall total for UK exports of services (£162,141 million).” International trade in services, UKSo although it is a fact that markets are growing faster outside the EU, the thing is: most of them cannot afford UK goods/services anyway, so how does this help the UK when these growing markets can buy cheaper and better from themselves, other blocs and other countries? At present, the UK has a captive market of around 450 million people in the EU who can actually afford UK goods and services, but after Brexit, the EU can revert to being a self-sufficient bloc or buying cheaper than from the UK and the UK becomes just another non-EU country competing to export goods and services to the EU.The only way the UK can effectively compete and expand in the non-EU market is to lower costs significantly. That usually can only mean fewer worker protections, less safety, fewer rights, less oversight of working conditions plus probably more lower cost migrants as the UK aim to climb back down to sordid working conditions, like many of the non-EU countries.Note that at least 4.1 million children are already living in poverty in the UK today, implying that their families themselves cannot afford premium UK goods and services, so how can the UK closing off their largest, most accessible market of 450 million people help UK citizens in any way? UK Poverty 2018But that is not all. In the modern world, supply and demand forces need to be balanced pretty quickly. If a customer wants re-supplies or new parts to fit in his factory, he wants it NOW, not on some indeterminate date in the future. This is part of the gravity theory of trade, which is simply that we tend to deal with our closest neighbours more than we deal with far away countries. As a member of the EU, we also have the benefit of frictionless trade which allows our factories to operate using a JIT (Just In Time) production model which is very efficient and cost-effective - parts and supplies take a very few days or sometimes just hours to arrive. JIT is much less feasible if your suppliers are far away:The Brexit fallacy of “better trade” outside the EU looks like this:Our new target customer countries will be very far away and it is highly unlikely they will engage the UK as high-volume, reliable suppliers for their factories.Furthermore, lest you still think there is hope, we should analyse the very “best case” scenario for Brexit by Patrick Minford, and the full analysis is on:What would be the long term effects, both positive and negative, of brexit on British economy?Reason 9? I am still searching for a single logical, rational reason for a No Deal Brexit. In all honesty, No Deal Brexit can only make sense if you benefit in some way from the UK’s economic disaster, such as disaster capitalists, social engineers or foreign capitalists wanting to break up institutions like the NHS. Or if you are wealthy enough not to care. Or if you are one of the manipulators and lobbyists who have been undermining citizens’ welfare for decades: Is Brexit the result of political corruption going back many years?But the question is: are these people’s private, selfish motives offering a logical and rational reason for No Deal Brexit for the country as a whole?Anyway, as the question request, don’t think emotionally - think rationally and logically and you will immediately smell the fetid stink of incompetence, manipulation, cynical misinformation and outrageous rank lies.Mostly, Brexit was/is about fallacies, as explained in Was the entire Brexit campaign based on lies?AddendumTo be honest, I am not a huge fan of many economists, having worked with quite a few over decades, and the ones I like/respect are those who think quantitatively and is able to process empirical data sensibly while relying on real-life historical scenarios. Such a gentleman is Adam Posen, and if you can spare 20 minutes or so to watch the video below, it is possible that your understanding of Brexit will be enhanced exponentially:

NOTICE :Gas prices are continuing on the rise for several reasons one including the USA president…actions … Iran & Venezuela embargo shut down .They will hit $100,00 very shortly due to shortage as China has increased by 80% purchases to supply the mainland market. India is also a very big consumer after Japan.There is a shotage of over 7 millions barrels per day. due to Iran & Venezuela embargos by the USA Government .Reasons for the oil shortage and price increase :1-Iran Embargo… Some production cannot be sold under the embargo USA.2- Venezuela Embargo Production under 1,2 millions barrel per day.3-Citgo USA under a possible seizure by Conoco-Phillips. $ 2,1 Billons USD jugement4-PVDSA Curacao temporaly seized by Conoco Phillips5-PDVSA Aruba & Bonaire & Saint Eustanius maritime termina;l storage mixing tanks seized.66-Lybia problems with the maritime terminal loading ( should be corrected7-China has become the largest consumer of oil 10,millions barrel per day.8- Canada has bought out Kinder Morgan Trans-Mountain Pipeline project to sell to China rather than selling to the USA ..versus the Keystone pipeline at big discount.This may be eliminating in the near future Canada oil sales to USA.9-Canada Alberta tar sands are in a July-August maintenance shut down.There is a reality missing in the equation ; Oil is pumped by two dozen mass producers; including OPEP.China is taking the largest increase every year by over 5% .China imported 281.1 million tonnes of crude in the first eight months of 2017, equivalent to 8.44 million barrels per day (bpd), according to customs data.This is up 12.3 percent on the same period in 2016, or about 950,000 bpd.This makes China the major contributor to global demand-growth so far this year, given that the International Energy Agency expects world oil consumption to rise 1.6 million bpd in 2017 from 2016.The growth in imports from Angola had matched the overall rate, it would have meant that China bought 1.02 million bpd, meaning Angola has supplied an extra 30,000 bpd over what it would have if it has just maintained its market share.Imports from Russia were 1.16 million bpd in the first eight months, a gain of 13.2 percent. This works out to an extra 10,000 bpd over the steady market share number.Iran has lost 83,000 bpd in the first eight months compared to China’s overall growth rate, while Iraq has forgone 17,000 bpd.For exporters outside the OPEC and allies deal, Brazil has been a large gainer, with exports in the first eight months rising 41.8 percent to 480,000 bpd, which is 100,000 bpd more than if they had merely matched China’s overall growth rate.The standout is the United States, with China importing 128,000 bpd in the first eight months, a massive leap of more than 1,000 percent, and an extra 116,000 bpd over what imports would have been if the growth rate matched China’s overall increase of 12.3 percent in the first eight months.In some ways the Chinese oil import numbers are a microcosm of the issues in the global crude market.China shows that the burden of rebalancing the market isn’t being shared evenly by those party to the production reduction agreement. It also shows that the Chinese have been able to quite easily replace supplies from those producers curbing output.Iran embargo by President Trump has created a big shortage as production is down significantly. Tehran is getting hit from all sides. Washington is telling buyers to stop all purchases of the country’s crude, while OPEC and its allies are bowing to U.S. pressure to raise output and fill the gap. Iran may be left with few options beyond convincing China to buy more of its oil, risking over-reliance on what’s already its biggest customer.“Iran is in a really horrible position right now,” said Sara Vakhshouri, head of Washington, D.C.-based consultant SVB Energy International. “There’s not really much Iran can do to maintain its export level.”Before last week’s meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Iran had been lobbying its fellow producers to condemn President Donald Trump’s “unlawful” re-imposition of sanctions and resist U.S. pressure to increase the group’s production. It failed on both counts as Saudi Arabia and Russia interpreted a vaguely worded agreement as a license to pump an extra 1 million barrels a day, making up for production lost by other members.Losing powerran is irrelevant to OPEC,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director of consultancy Petromatrix GmbH. “The OPEC communique was vague and the message was supplanted by the Saudis and Russians. So you can see who is in charge here.”After being largely abandoned by its fellow OPEC members, Iran was hit even harder by its greatest foe. The U.S. State Department announced it was aiming to drive the country’s oil exports to “ zero,” rejecting the gradual approach to sanctions President Barack Obama’s administration adopted back in 2012. It’s not clear the U.S. will achieve a full halt, since even American allies are displeased with its unilateral abandonment of the deal that curbed Iran’s nuclear program.“Korea, China, Japan have already expressed they cannot go for zero,” Iran’s OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said in an interview on Wednesday.Halting purchases .The U.S. Department of Energy softened the Trump administration’s hard line on Thursday, saying sanctions on Iran may leave room for some buyers to cut back gradually.Still, Brouillette acknowledged that his agency doesn’t oversee sanctions and that the Treasury department will ultimately decide how stringently they’re enforced. There are plenty of other signs the sanctions could take out a significant share of the 2.5 MMbpd the Middle Eastern nation currently exports. In an interview with Bloomberg television last week, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said buyers including :France’s Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have already halted purchases. Total’s CEO Patrick Pouyanne said last month that it was unthinkable for any international company to risk being excluded from the U.S. financial system -- the penalty for buying Iranian crude beyond Nov. 4.Total’s position illustrates the immediate danger to Iran’s crude exports, but also the long-term damage they could inflict on the country’s oil and gas industry. The company has started to pull out of the South Pars 11 natural gas project, the largest investment by an international energy company in the country.Iran’s crude sales are set to drop by at least 500,000 to 600,000 bpd this year, with the shortfall potentially much higher given Tuesday’s announcement from the State Department, according to Vakhshouri. John Browne, former BP Plc chief executive officer and current chairman of L1 Energy Holdings Ltd., anticipated a drop of as much as 1.5 MMbpd.Iran is running out of options on oil.CITGO Reffinery assets are on the point to be seized;for a $ 2,4 Billions Interrnational jugement.PDVSA Petroleos de Venezuela South America assets are seized in Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire,and The Saint Eustatius Fuel storage and Mixing / deep water supertankeder loading harbor and Saba.The infrastructures of Venezuela with all the oil they own , the second largest raffinery in the world. Venezuela has , a aluminum plant , steel plants, tire plants, Train plant, chemical plants, Industrial valve plants and many other industrial plants are operating at 20% or closed down.CITGO / PVDSA Aruba Caribbean Refinery CITGO TO POUR UP TO $600 MILLION INTO REFURBISHING MOTHBALLED ARUBA OIL REFINERYPVDSA refinery & Chemical plants most are not in operating condition or totally dilapidated by the Maduro dictature. There is nothing operational left in Venezuela.Refining is the process whereby hydrocarbons are transformed into by-products. PDVSA processes crude oil at 20 refineries: five in Venezuela and 15 in the rest of the world.Yes, BANKRUPCY of the Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA is a real option. This is what Minister Blok writes in a letter addressed to the House of Representatives in preparation for the Wednesday debate with the parliamentary committees for Foreign Affairs and Kingdom Relations.The minister also confirms in the letter that the European Union is considering: Blok writes about the situation of PdVSA:“Venezuela suffers a severe economic crisis (anticipated fall in GNP -15%), and very high inflation figures. Inflation was already more than 2000% in 2017, and the IMF estimates that the inflation rate has now increased to 13,000% on an annual basis. The accumulation of problems at state-owned oil company PdVSA, including corruption, collapsed production, major staff turnover and financial problems make the economic situation even more difficult and a possible bankruptcy a real option. Outstanding debts are still paid very slowly and more and more creditors are trying to get their money through seizures.The recent seizures by Conoco Phillips on PdVSA assets in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom illustrate this. Approximately 90% of Venezuela's income comes from oil exports. Because Venezuela has to a large extent dependent on import for all kinds of goods including food, made possible by a high oil price, hardly invested in the diversification of its own economy.”Conoco Philipps' seizure of PDVSA Caribbean terminals "a disaster" for VenezuelaThe move by ConocoPhillips is part of an effort to fulfil a $2.04 billion arbitration ruling against PDVSA“This is terrible (for PDVSA),” said a source familiar with the court order of attachment. The state-run company “cannot comply with all the committed volume for exports” and the Conoco action imperils its ability to ship fuel oil to China or access inventories to be exported from Bonaire.At the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Conoco had sought up to $22 billion from PDVSA for broken contracts and loss of future profits from two oil producing joint ventures, which were nationalized in 2007 under late Venezuela President Hugo Chavez.The U.S. firm left the country after it could not reach a deal to convert its projects into joint ventures controlled by PDVSA.A separate arbitration case involving the loss of its Venezuelan assets is before a World Bank tribunal, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.Conoco Phillips is going all out to recover $2 billion it was awarded in arbitration from Venezuela.First it froze the assets of Venezuela’s state-run oil giant, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, at Caribbean harbors that serve as key waystations for much of Venezuela’s crude exports. Now it’s pushing to do the same in the U.S. with the USA Citgo Refinery network in Europe and Asia. The fight pits the world’s biggest independent explorer against the holder of the world’s most significant crude reserves, and it’s exploring some surprising legal territory. Lawyers for PdV and Conoco Phillips met yesterday in the Dutch-controlled island of Curacao & Aruba to hammer out execution seizure of an 18 May local court order that partially lifted liens that the US firm had levied on PdV’s local assets in a bid to collect a $2bn arbitration award, all over the PDVSA CARIBBEAN REFINERY SYSTEM AND FUEL STORAGE AND MIXING STATIONSHow does PDVSA continue under seizures ???Many products are obtained from oil, from extremely volatile gases and liquids like gasoline to very thick fluids such as asphalt and even solids such as paraffin waxes. In general terms, the basic petroleum derivatives are: gas, motor gasoline, aviation gasoline, kerosene, diesel, solvents, lubricating bases, paraffin, fuel oil and asphalt. In addition to these by-products, PDVSA supplies materials to petrochemical plants and manufacturing companies to produce synthetic rubber, synthetic fibers, fertilizers, explosives, insecticides, medicines, toiletries, and thousands of other productsDomestic Refining & DISTRIBITION SYSTEM PDVSA's domestic refining business consists of six refineries: Amuay, Cardón, Bajo Grande, El Palito, Puerto La Cruz and San Roque, located in different parts of the http://country.In 2015, the volume of crude processed in the National Refining System was 863 thousand barrels per day (MBD) (the transfer of 3 MBD of residual to the crude processed at Refinery El Palito, from Puerto La Cruz Refinery is discounted). In addition, 149 MBD of inputs for processes and mixtures were received. 1,012 MBD of products were obtained with this level of crude and inputs, of which 290 MBD correspond to gasoline and naphtha, 282 MBD jet and distillate, 294 MBD residual, 14 MBD asphalt, 5 MBD to lubricants and 127 MBD to other products.Natural Gas Liquids (NGL)By the end of the 2015 a production of 117 thousand barrels per day (MBD) was achieved and LPG purchases were made for 25 MBD, obtaining an availability142MBD.Today, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A.does not maintains a solid presence abroad, with strong commercial relationships with its partners in each country as well as nations with great investment potential in the oil industry as every plant are not in operation or condition.PetroaméricaThe Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has introduced the Petroamérica initiative for the energy integration of the peoples of our continent, within the framework of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and based on the principles of solidarity and complementarity of the countries concerning the fair and democratic use of resources for the development of their peoples.Petroamérica adheres to the guiding principles of ALBA: energy integration, solidarity, complementarity, fair trade, promotion of investments in Latin America, and special and differentiated treatment of nations according to their capabilities. Both initiatives share the historical and fundamental purpose of uniting the capacities and strengths of the countries that comprise them for the joint definition of broad lines of common political action among states that share the same vision on the exercise of sovereignty, while developing their own identity.PDVSA AMERICA, S.A.PDVSA created in 2006 the subsidiary PDVSA América, SA in order to implement the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela's energy policies in Latin America, the Caribbean and continent-wide, and position Venezuela as a regional energy power, while developing energy, political, cultural and economic relations favoring equity and social justice.PDVSA América focuses on strengthening the role of PDVSA as a reliable supplier of hydrocarbons and in establishing the market diversification strategy promoted by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for the creation of a new world energy map, where Latin America becomes an energy hub.One of the strategies for the joint undertaking of various projects is setting up joint ventures, mostly with state-owned companies, so that countries become engaged in their own development and for the optimization of execution capacity.PETROCARIBEIn September 2005, PDVSA founded the subsidiary PDV Caribe, S.A., the result of the PETROCARIBE Agreement. PDV Caribe plans and executes the activities of transportation, reception, storage, distribution and commercialization of hydrocarbons, along with the necessary infrastructure projects to ensure the sovereign management of the energy resources in member countries.In 2015, PDV Caribe and its joint ventures reviewed their progress in achieving their goals to visualize their next steps and optimize internal processes, with the aim of increasing management efficiency.PDVSA JOINT VENTURES & LEASES -UNDER THE PETROCARIBE AGREEMENT• Antigua and Barbuda: WEST INDIES OIL COMPANY LTD. / Storage mixing tanks facility / (PDV Caribe, S.A. 25%, Government of Antigua and Barbuda 51% and Fancy Bridge Ltd. 24%).Bonaire, Saint Eustatius Fuel storage and Mixing / deep water supertankeder loading harbor and Saba (The Netherlands) Aruba,refinery- stotage , Curacao storage & refinery.• Belize: ALBA Petrocaribe Belize Energy Ltd. (PDV Caribe, S.A. 55% and Belize Petroleum and Energy Ltd. 45%).• Dominica: PDV Caribe Dominica Ltd. (PDV Caribe, S.A. 55% and Dominica National Petroleum Company Ltd. 45%)• Grenada: PDV Grenada Ltd. (PDV Caribe, S.A. 55% and Petrocaribe Grenada Ltd. 45%).• Jamaica: Petrojam Ltd. (PDV Caribe, S.A. REFINERY/ 49% and Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica 51%).• Nicaragua: ALBA de Nicaragua, S.A. ALBANISA ( PDV Caribe, S.A. 51% and PETRONIC 49%).• Dominican Republic: REFIDOMSA - PDV,S.A. REFINERY/ (PDV Caribe, S.A. 49% and Dominican State 51%).•Saint Kitts and Nevis: PDV St. Kitts Nevis Ltd. (PDV Caribe, S.A. 55% and St. Kitts Nevis Energy Company Ltd. 45%).•Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: PDV Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Limited (PDV Caribe, S.A. 55% and Petrocaribe St. Vincent and The Grenadines SVG Ltd. 45%).• El Salvador: ALBA Petróleos de El Salvador (PDV Caribe, S.A. 60% and the Asociación Intermunicipal Energía para El Salvador ENEPASA 40%).• Haiti: SOCIETE D´INVESTISSEMENT PETION BOLIVAR, S.A. (Petión-Bolívar) (PDV Caribe, S.A. 51% and Haitian State 49%).•Suriname: PDV SURINAME, N.V. (PDV Caribe, S.A. 50% and SURFUEL, N.V. 50%).PVDSA CUBA / REFFINERY, Products and servicesPDVSA Cuba works together with Cuba Petróleo (CUPET) to increase the potential of the Caribbean energy market, in exploration and production (upstream), as well as refining and marketing (downstream) processes, to promote the social progress of the Caribbean and Central American peoples through free and democratic access to energy at a fair and reasonable price.The PDVSA Cuba office in Havana makes possible to offer more support and attention to the region and implement projects for the production and commercialization of lubricants, fuels and other petroleum products to Central America and the countries of the Caribbean Basin. It also coordinates technological exchange and training of human resources in the hydrocarbons sector.•Projects and goalsPDVSA Cuba plans to build a strategic storage center for residual fuels in Matanzas, in western Cuba, with a capacity of 600,000 barrels per day, and restart the Cienfuegos refinery and terminal, located in the central region of the Cuban archipelago. Upstream, studies of the energy matrix of Cuba will be deepened, especially with regard to exploration and production in the Economic Zone of Cuba in the Gulf of Mexico.Downstream, a lubricant bottling plant will be developed with the participation of the National Lubricant Company (Cubalub) and the logistic support of PDVSA.ConocoPhilipps' seizure of PDVSA Caribbean terminals "a disaster" for VenezuelaVenezuela is in the grip of a deep recession with severe shortages of medicine and food as well as a growing exodus of more than 4 million of its people.PDVSA and the Venezuelan foreign ministry with Dutch authorities said they are assessing the situation on Bonaire.Conoco’s claims against Venezuela and state-run PDVSA & CITGO….seizures“Any potential impacts on communities are the result of PDVSA’s illegal expropriation of our assets and its decision to ignore the judgment of the ICC tribunal,” Conoco said in an email to Reuters.The situation of PdVSA: Venezuela PDVSA may close three of four refineries The refineries under threat are the 310,000 bbl/day Cardon, the 187,000 bbl/day Puerto la Cruz and the 146,000 bbl/day El Palito, according to Ivan Freites, head of an oil union representing PDVSA workers. The three facilities account for roughly half of the nation’s domestic refining capacity.The 645,000 bbl/day Amuay refinery, which along with Cardon forms the 955,000 bbl/day Paraguana Refining Centre, is also in danger of indefinite closure due to equipment failures that have paralysed several processing units, Freites said.Low oil prices and an economy in crisis have left PDVSA desperately short of funds to invest in exploration and production, reducing the availability of crude feedstock for its refineries. Detractors of the state-run industry also accuse the government of mismanagement and insufficient transparency.Venezuela’s refining circuit is currently processing about 390,000 bbl/day, or 30% of its installed capacity, Freites said.According to the union leader, PDVSA is considering the closures after negotiations to lease the Amuay and Cardon refineries to state energy firms PetroChina and Russia’s Rosneft ended in failure.Under the proposed lease agreement, PetroChina and Rosneft would have been required to cover 100% of the estimated $10bn in repair and modernisation costs of both facilities.The ever worsening situation in Venezuela is of great concern.<French Guiana’s offshore oil: profit trumps environmental protection?On the economic, social, humanitarian and political level, the country is slipping further and further. The election victory of May 20 fits into a series of elections with which the Maduro government has strengthened its grip on the elected institutions but at the same time has lost its legitimacy and support among the population. A solution to the deep political, economic and humanitarian crisis seems far away. The run-up to these elections was controversial. Intensive negotiations between the government and opposition about the preconditions, including the balanced composition of the electoral council, the restoration of the functioning of the national parliament, the opening of a humanitarian channel and the release of political prisoners, came to nothing in February 2018.The Amuay refinery Venezuela world second largest refineryBy Praveen DudduThe 10 biggest oil consuming nations account for more than 58% of the world's total oil consumption per day. The United States is the world's biggest oil consumer, followed by China, Japan and India.Hydrocarbons Technology - The leading site for news and procurement in the hydrocarbons industryprofiles the 10 biggest oil consuming countries based on average daily oil consumption in 2012.China largest increase in oil consumption by over 5% yearly.China’s oil consumption stood at 10.3mbd in 2012, accounting for about 11.7% of the world’s total oil consumption making it the second biggest oil consumer after the US. China’s oil consumption has more than doubled since 2000 and the consumption in 2012 increased by five percent compared to the previous year.China is also the second biggest oil importing country in the world currently and its net oil imports have steadily climbed up from 3.43mbd in 2008 to 8,44 mbd in 2017. China’s total oil production during the period increased from 4mbd to 4.4mbd and the country is likely to surpass the US as the biggest oil importing country in the next months.For these reasons China is now the largest in the world manufacturing E;ectric Bikes, motorcycles & Cars.Solar panels and Wind energy, now larger that the nuclear production , in order to reduce their dependance on the imported Oil.1-Minister Blok: Bankruptcy PdVSA is a realistic option2-Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA)3--Minister Blok: Bankruptcy PdVSA is a realistic option4-ConocoPhilipps' seizure of PDVSA Caribbean terminals "a disaster" for Venezuela5-PDVSA Puerto la Cruz/El Chaure Refinery6-PDVSA El Palito Refinery7-PDVSA Amuay Refinery8-PDVSA Cardon Refinery9-Saint CroixChart:10-The Collapse of Venezuela's Oil Production | AS/COA11 -https://www.icis.com/resources/n...12-How Conoco's Fight With Venezuela Landed in Curacao: QuickTake14--List of countries by oil production - Wikipedia15--The 10 biggest oil consuming countries - Hydrocarbons Technology+16--China crude oil import data show winners and losers from...17--Brent Falls Back On Saudi Supply Surge | OilPrice.com18--https://www.google.ca/search?q=c...:

Does Sandi Arabia desire to pump the missing oil from Iran & Venezuela ?NOTICE :Gas prices are continuing on the rise for several reasons one including the USA president…actions … They will hit $100,00 very shortly due to shortage as China has increased by 80% purchases to supply the mainland market. India is also a very big consumer after Japan.There is a shotage of over 7 millions barrels per day. due to Iran & Venezuela embargos.Reasons for the oil shortage and price increase :1-Iran Embargo… Some production cannot be sold under the embargo USA.2- Venezuela Embargo Production under 1,3 millions barrel per day.3-Citgo USA under a possible seizure by Conoco-Phillips. ($ 2,1 Billons USD jugement4-PVDSA Curacao temporaly seized by Conoco Phillips5-PDVSA Aruba & Bonaire & Saint Eustanius maritime termina;l storage mixing tanks seized.6-Lybia problems with the maritime terminal loading ( should be corrected7-China has become the largest consumer of oil 10,millions barrel per day.8- Canada has bought out Kinder Morgan Trans-Mountain Pipeline project to sell to China rather than selling to the USA ..versus the Keystone pipeline at big discount.This may be eliminating in the near future Canada oil sales to USA.9-Canada Alberta tar sands are in a July-August maintenance shut down.There is a reality missing in the equation ; Oil is pumped by two dozen mass producers; including OPEP. China is taking the largest increase every year by over 5% .China imported 281.1 million tonnes of crude in the first eight months of 2017, equivalent to 8.44 million barrels per day (bpd), according to customs data.This is up 12.3 percent on the same period in 2016, or about 950,000 bpd.This makes China the major contributor to global demand-growth so far this year, given that the International Energy Agency expects world oil consumption to rise 1.6 million bpd in 2017 from 2016. The growth in imports from Angola had matched the overall rate, it would have meant that China bought 1.02 million bpd, meaning Angola has supplied an extra 30,000 bpd over what it would have if it has just maintained its market share.Imports from Russia were 1.16 million bpd in the first eight months, a gain of 13.2 percent. This works out to an extra 10,000 bpd over the steady market share number.Iran has lost 83,000 bpd in the first eight months compared to China’s overall growth rate, while Iraq has forgone 17,000 bpd.For exporters outside the OPEC and allies deal, Brazil has been a large gainer, with exports in the first eight months rising 41.8 percent to 480,000 bpd, which is 100,000 bpd more than if they had merely matched China’s overall growth rate.The standout is the United States, with China importing 128,000 bpd in the first eight months, a massive leap of more than 1,000 percent, and an extra 116,000 bpd over what imports would have been if the growth rate matched China’s overall increase of 12.3 percent in the first eight months.In some ways the Chinese oil import numbers are a microcosm of the issues in the global crude market.China shows that the burden of rebalancing the market isn’t being shared evenly by those party to the production reduction agreement.It also shows that the Chinese have been able to quite easily replace supplies from those producers curbing output.Iran embargo by President Trump has created a big shortage as production is down significantly. Tehran is getting hit from all sides. Washington is telling buyers to stop all purchases of the country’s crude, while OPEC and its allies are bowing to U.S. pressure to raise output and fill the gap. Iran may be left with few options beyond convincing China to buy more of its oil, risking over-reliance on what’s already its biggest customer.“Iran is in a really horrible position right now,” said Sara Vakhshouri, head of Washington, D.C.-based consultant SVB Energy International. “There’s not really much Iran can do to maintain its export level.”Before last week’s meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Iran had been lobbying its fellow producers to condemn President Donald Trump’s “unlawful” re-imposition of sanctions and resist U.S. pressure to increase the group’s production. It failed on both counts as Saudi Arabia and Russia interpreted a vaguely worded agreement as a license to pump an extra 1 million barrels a day, making up for production lost by other members.Losing powerran is irrelevant to OPEC,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director of consultancy Petromatrix GmbH. “The OPEC communique was vague and the message was supplanted by the Saudis and Russians. So you can see who is in charge here.”After being largely abandoned by its fellow OPEC members, Iran was hit even harder by its greatest foe. The U.S. State Department announced it was aiming to drive the country’s oil exports to “ zero,” rejecting the gradual approach to sanctions President Barack Obama’s administration adopted back in 2012.It’s not clear the U.S. will achieve a full halt, since even American allies are displeased with its unilateral abandonment of the deal that curbed Iran’s nuclear program.“Korea, China, Japan have already expressed they cannot go for zero,” Iran’s OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said in an interview on Wednesday.Halting purchasesThe U.S. Department of Energy softened the Trump administration’s hard line on Thursday, saying sanctions on Iran may leave room for some buyers to cut back gradually.Still, Brouillette acknowledged that his agency doesn’t oversee sanctions and that the Treasury department will ultimately decide how stringently they’re enforced. There are plenty of other signs the sanctions could take out a significant share of the 2.5 MMbpd the Middle Eastern nation currently exports.In an interview with Bloomberg television last week, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said buyers including France’s Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have already halted purchases. Total’s CEO Patrick Pouyanne said last month that it was unthinkable for any international company to risk being excluded from the U.S. financial system -- the penalty for buying Iranian crude beyond Nov. 4.Total’s position illustrates the immediate danger to Iran’s crude exports, but also the long-term damage they could inflict on the country’s oil and gas industry. The company has started to pull out of the South Pars 11 natural gas project, the largest investment by an international energy company in the country.Iran’s crude sales are set to drop by at least 500,000 to 600,000 bpd this year, with the shortfall potentially much higher given Tuesday’s announcement from the State Department, according to Vakhshouri. John Browne, former BP Plc chief executive officer and current chairman of L1 Energy Holdings Ltd., anticipated a drop of as much as 1.5 MMbpd.Iran is running out of options on oilThe USA CITGO Reffinery assets are on the point to be seized;for a $ 2,4 Billions Interrnational jugement.PDVSA Petroleos de Venezuela South America assets are seized in Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire,and The Saint Eustatius Fuel storage and Mixing / deep water supertankeder loading harbor and Saba.The infrastructures of Venezuela with all the oil they own , the second largest raffinery in the world. Venezuela has , a aluminum plant , steel plants, tire plants, Train plant, chemical plants, Industrial valve plants and many other industrial plants are operating at 20% or closed down.However . most are not in operating condition or totally dilapidated by the Maduro dictature. There is nothing operational left in Venezuela.CITGO TO POUR UP TO $600 MILLION INTO REFURBISHING MOTHBALLED ARUBA OIL REFINERYRefining is the process whereby hydrocarbons are transformed into by-products. PDVSA processes crude oil at 20 refineries: five in Venezuela and 15 in the rest of the world.Yes, BANKRUPCY of the Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA is a real option. This is what Minister Blok writes in a letter addressed to the House of Representatives in preparation for the Wednesday debate with the parliamentary committees for Foreign Affairs and Kingdom Relations.The minister also confirms in the letter that the European Union is considering: Blok writes about the situation of PdVSA: “Venezuela suffers a severe economic crisis (anticipated fall in GNP -15%), and very high inflation figures. Inflation was already more than 2000% in 2017, and the IMF estimates that the inflation rate has now increased to 13,000% on an annual basis. The accumulation of problems at state-owned oil company PdVSA, including corruption, collapsed production, major staff turnover and financial problems make the economic situation even more difficult and a possible bankruptcy a real option. Outstanding debts are still paid very slowly and more and more creditors are trying to get their money through seizures.The recent seizures by Conoco Phillips on PdVSA assets in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom illustrate this. Approximately 90% of Venezuela's income comes from oil exports. Because Venezuela has to a large extent dependent on import for all kinds of goods including food, made possible by a high oil price, hardly invested in the diversification of its own economy.”Conoco Philipps' seizure of PDVSA Caribbean terminals "a disaster" for VenezuelaThe move by ConocoPhillips is part of an effort to fulfil a $2.04 billion arbitration ruling against PDVSA“This is terrible (for PDVSA),” said a source familiar with the court order of attachment. The state-run company “cannot comply with all the committed volume for exports” and the Conoco action imperils its ability to ship fuel oil to China or access inventories to be exported from Bonaire.At the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Conoco had sought up to $22 billion from PDVSA for broken contracts and loss of future profits from two oil producing joint ventures, which were nationalized in 2007 under late Venezuela President Hugo Chavez. The U.S. firm left the country after it could not reach a deal to convert its projects into joint ventures controlled by PDVSA.A separate arbitration case involving the loss of its Venezuelan assets is before a World Bank tribunal, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.Conoco Phillips is going all out to recover $2 billion it was awarded in arbitration from Venezuela. First it froze the assets of Venezuela’s state-run oil giant, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, at Caribbean harbors that serve as key waystations for much of Venezuela’s crude exports. Now it’s pushing to do the same in the U.S. with the USA Citgo Refinery network in Europe and Asia. The fight pits the world’s biggest independent explorer against the holder of the world’s most significant crude reserves, and it’s exploring some surprising legal territory. Lawyers for PdV and Conoco Phillips met yesterday in the Dutch-controlled island of Curacao & Aruba to hammer out execution seizure of an 18 May local court order that partially lifted liens that the US firm had levied on PdV’s local assets in a bid to collect a $2bn arbitration award, all over the PDVSA CARIBBEAN REFINERY SYSTEM AND FUEL STORAGE AND MIXING STATIONSHow does PDVSA continue under seizures ???Manyproducts are obtained from oil, from extremely volatile gases and liquids like gasoline to very thick fluids such as asphalt and even solids such as paraffin waxes. In general terms, the basic petroleum derivatives are: gas, motor gasoline, aviation gasoline, kerosene, diesel, solvents, lubricating bases, paraffin, fuel oil and asphalt.in -&nbspThis website is for sale! -&nbspAsphalt Resources and Information. addition to these by-products, PDVSA supplies materials to petrochemical plants and manufacturing companies to produce synthetic rubber, synthetic fibers, fertilizers, explosives, insecticides, medicines, toiletries, and thousands of other productsDomestic Refining & DISTRIBITION SYSTEM PDVSA's domestic refining business consists of six refineries: Amuay, Cardón, Bajo Grande, El Palito, Puerto La Cruz and San Roque, located in different parts of the country.In 2015, the volume of crude processed in the National Refining System was 863 thousand barrels per day (MBD) (the transfer of 3 MBD of residual to the crude processed at Refinery El Palito, from Puerto La Cruz Refinery is discounted). In addition, 149 MBD of inputs for processes and mixtures were received. 1,012 MBD of products were obtained with this level of crude and inputs, of which 290 MBD correspond to gasoline and naphtha, 282 MBD jet and distillate, 294 MBD residual, 14 MBD asphalt, 5 MBD to lubricants and 127 MBD to other products.Natural Gas Liquids (NGL)By the end of the 2015 a production of 117 thousand barrels per day (MBD) was achieved and LPG purchases were made for 25 MBD, obtaining an availability142MBD.Today, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A.does not maintains a solid presence abroad, with strong commercial relationships with its partners in each country as well as nations with great investment potential in the oil industry as every plant are not in operation or condition.PetroaméricaThe Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has introduced the Petroamérica initiative for the energy integration of the peoples of our continent, within the framework of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and based on the principles of solidarity and complementarity of the countries concerning the fair and democratic use of resources for the development of their peoples.Petroamérica adheres to the guiding principles of ALBA: energy integration, solidarity, complementarity, fair trade, promotion of investments in Latin America, and special and differentiated treatment of nations according to their capabilities. Both initiatives share the historical and fundamental purpose of uniting the capacities and strengths of the countries that comprise them for the joint definition of broad lines of common political action among states that share the same vision on the exercise of sovereignty, while developing their own identity.PDVSA AMERICA, S.A.PDVSA created in 2006 the subsidiary PDVSA América, SA in order to implement the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela's energy policies in Latin America, the Caribbean and continent-wide, and position Venezuela as a regional energy power, while developing energy, political, cultural and economic relations favoring equity and social justice.PDVSA América focuses on strengthening the role of PDVSA as a reliable supplier of hydrocarbons and in establishing the market diversification strategy promoted by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for the creation of a new world energy map, where Latin America becomes an energy hub.One of the strategies for the joint undertaking of various projects is setting up joint ventures, mostly with state-owned companies, so that countries become engaged in their own development and for the optimization of execution capacity.PETROCARIBEIn September 2005, PDVSA founded the subsidiary PDV Caribe, S.A., the result of the PETROCARIBE Agreement. PDV Caribe plans and executes the activities of transportation, reception, storage, distribution and commercialization of hydrocarbons, along with the necessary infrastructure projects to ensure the sovereign management of the energy resources in member countries.In 2015, PDV Caribe and its joint ventures reviewed their progress in achieving their goals to visualize their next steps and optimize internal processes, with the aim of increasing management efficiency.PDVSA JOINT VENTURES & LEASES -UNDER THE PETROCARIBE AGREEMENT• Antigua and Barbuda: WEST INDIES OIL COMPANY LTD. / Storage mixing tanks facility / (PDV Caribe, S.A. 25%, Government of Antigua and Barbuda 51% and Fancy Bridge Ltd. 24%).Bonaire, Saint Eustatius Fuel storage and Mixing / deep water supertankeder loading harbor and Saba (The Netherlands) Aruba,refinery- stotage , Curacao storage & refinery.• Belize: ALBA Petrocaribe Belize Energy Ltd. (PDV Caribe, S.A. 55% and Belize Petroleum and Energy Ltd. 45%).• Dominica: PDV Caribe Dominica Ltd. (PDV Caribe, S.A. 55% and Dominica National Petroleum Company Ltd. 45%)• Grenada: PDV Grenada Ltd. (PDV Caribe, S.A. 55% and Petrocaribe Grenada Ltd. 45%).• Jamaica: Petrojam Ltd. (PDV Caribe, S.A. REFINERY/ 49% and Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica 51%).• Nicaragua: ALBA de Nicaragua, S.A. ALBANISA ( PDV Caribe, S.A. 51% and PETRONIC 49%).• Dominican Republic: REFIDOMSA - PDV,S.A. REFINERY/ (PDV Caribe, S.A. 49% and Dominican State 51%).•Saint Kitts and Nevis: PDV St. Kitts Nevis Ltd. (PDV Caribe, S.A. 55% and St. Kitts Nevis Energy Company Ltd. 45%).•Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: PDV Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Limited (PDV Caribe, S.A. 55% and Petrocaribe St. Vincent and The Grenadines SVG Ltd. 45%).• El Salvador: ALBA Petróleos de El Salvador (PDV Caribe, S.A. 60% and the Asociación Intermunicipal Energía para El Salvador ENEPASA 40%).• Haiti: SOCIETE D´INVESTISSEMENT PETION BOLIVAR, S.A. (Petión-Bolívar) (PDV Caribe, S.A. 51% and Haitian State 49%).•Suriname: PDV SURINAME, N.V. (PDV Caribe, S.A. 50% and SURFUEL, N.V. 50%).PVDSA CUBA / REFFINERY, Products and servicesPDVSA Cuba works together with Cuba Petróleo (CUPET) to increase the potential of the Caribbean energy market, in exploration and production (upstream), as well as refining and marketing (downstream) processes, to promote the social progress of the Caribbean and Central American peoples through free and democratic access to energy at a fair and reasonable price.The PDVSA Cuba office in Havana makes possible to offer more support and attention to the region and implement projects for the production and commercialization of lubricants, fuels and other petroleum products to Central America and the countries of the Caribbean Basin. It also coordinates technological exchange and training of human resources in the hydrocarbons sector.• Projects and goalsPDVSA Cuba plans to build a strategic storage center for residual fuels in Matanzas, in western Cuba, with a capacity of 600,000 barrels per day, and restart the Cienfuegos refinery and terminal, located in the central region of the Cuban archipelago. Upstream, studies of the energy matrix of Cuba will be deepened, especially with regard to exploration and production in the Economic Zone of Cuba in the Gulf of Mexico.Downstream, a lubricant bottling plant will be developed with the participation of the National Lubricant Company (Cubalub) and the logistic support of PDVSA.ConocoPhilipps' seizure of PDVSA Caribbean terminals "a disaster" for VenezuelaVenezuela is in the grip of a deep recession with severe shortages of medicine and food as well as a growing exodus of more than 4 million of its people.PDVSA and the Venezuelan foreign ministry with Dutch authorities said they are assessing the situation on Bonaire.Conoco’s claims against Venezuela and state-run PDVSA & CITGO….seizures“Any potential impacts on communities are the result of PDVSA’s illegal expropriation of our assets and its decision to ignore the judgment of the ICC tribunal,” Conoco said in an email to Reuters.The situation of PdVSA: Venezuela PDVSA may close three of four refineries The refineries under threat are the 310,000 bbl/day Cardon, the 187,000 bbl/day Puerto la Cruz and the 146,000 bbl/day El Palito, according to Ivan Freites, head of an oil union representing PDVSA workers. The three facilities account for roughly half of the nation’s domestic refining capacity.The 645,000 bbl/day Amuay refinery, which along with Cardon forms the 955,000 bbl/day Paraguana Refining Centre, is also in danger of indefinite closure due to equipment failures that have paralysed several processing units, Freites said.Low oil prices and an economy in crisis have left PDVSA desperately short of funds to invest in exploration and production, reducing the availability of crude feedstock for its refineries. Detractors of the state-run industry also accuse the government of mismanagement and insufficient transparency.Venezuela’s refining circuit is currently processing about 390,000 bbl/day, or 30% of its installed capacity, Freites said.According to the union leader, PDVSA is considering the closures after negotiations to lease the Amuay and Cardon refineries to state energy firms PetroChina and Russia’s Rosneft ended in failure.Under the proposed lease agreement, PetroChina and Rosneft would have been required to cover 100% of the estimated $10bn in repair and modernisation costs of both facilities.The ever worsening situation in Venezuela is of great concern.French Guiana’s offshore oil: profit trumps environmental protection?On the economic, social, humanitarian and political level, the country is slipping further and further. The election victory of May 20 fits into a series of elections with which the Maduro government has strengthened its grip on the elected institutions but at the same time has lost its legitimacy and support among the population. A solution to the deep political, economic and humanitarian crisis seems far away. The run-up to these elections was controversial. Intensive negotiations between the government and opposition about the preconditions, including the balanced composition of the electoral council, the restoration of the functioning of the national parliament, the opening of a humanitarian channel and the release of political prisoners, came to nothing in February 2018.The European Union and other members of the international community (such as the US and the Lima group) have vainly called on the Venezuelan authorities several times in the run-up to the elections to allow political parties to participate on equal terms, to reform the electoral commission, to reach the opposition on an election calendar and to comply with all international standards. The lack of this did not allow the participation of independent international observation missions. The attendance rate of 46% determined by the electoral commission is the lowest in decades. Maduro won 68% of the vote against 21% for Falcon. Falcon did not recognize the election results due to unlawful elections.Amuay refinery Venezuela world second largest refineryBy Praveen DudduThe 10 biggest oil consuming nations account for more than 58% of the world's total oil consumption per day. The United States is the world's biggest oil consumer, followed by China, Japan and India. Hydrocarbons Technology - The leading site for news and procurement in the hydrocarbons industry profiles the 10 biggest oil consuming countries based on average daily oil consumption in 2012.China largest increase in oil consumption by over 5% yearly.China’s oil consumption stood at 10.3mbd in 2012, accounting for about 11.7% of the world’s total oil consumption making it the second biggest oil consumer after the US. China’s oil consumption has more than doubled since 2000 and the consumption in 2012 increased by five percent compared to the previous year.China is also the second biggest oil importing country in the world currently and its net oil imports have steadily climbed up from 3.43mbd in 2008 to 8,44 mbd in 2017. China’s total oil production during the period increased from 4mbd to 4.4mbd and the country is likely to surpass the US as the biggest oil importing country in the next months.For these reasons China is now the largest in the world manufacturing E;ectric Bikes, motorcycles & Cars.Solar panels and Wind energy, now larger that the nuclear production , in order to reduce their dependance on the imported Oil.1-Minister Blok: Bankruptcy PdVSA is a realistic option2-Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA)3--Minister Blok: Bankruptcy PdVSA is a realistic option4-ConocoPhilipps' seizure of PDVSA Caribbean terminals "a disaster" for Venezuela5-PDVSA Puerto la Cruz/El Chaure Refinery6-PDVSA El Palito Refinery7-PDVSA Amuay Refinery8-PDVSA Cardon Refinery9-Saint CroixChart:10-The Collapse of Venezuela's Oil Production | AS/COA11 -https://www.icis.com/resources/n...12-How Conoco's Fight With Venezuela Landed in Curacao: QuickTake14--List of countries by oil production - Wikipedia15--The 10 biggest oil consuming countries - Hydrocarbons Technology16--China crude oil import data show winners and losers from...17--Brent Falls Back On Saudi Supply Surge | OilPrice.com18--https://www.google.ca/search?q=c...: