Not all oil is created equal, and Venezuelan crude is about as different from typical American light oil as heavy molasses is from a bottle of gasoline. That difference shapes everything from how refineries are built to how much it costs to turn crude into fuel to whether U.S. companies even want those barrels in the first place.
Related: How the US deleted Venezuela’s air defenses so quickly (and why the real war might be starting)
Venezuela sits on enormous oil reserves, especially in the form of extra-heavy crudes in the Orinoco region.
Author: Michael
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New images have provided the first clear look at China’s first intercontinental range stealth aircraft, showing what appear to be twin internal weapons bays that would confirm the aircraft is intended to serve as a long range bomber. The unmanned aircraft was first seen in satellite footage from a People’s Liberation Army Air Force test base near Malan, Xinjiang province, which was published in mid-June. Subsequently on October 19 images or the first time showed the aircraft in flight.
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Have you heard of the White Death?
North Korea has launched a nuclear-capable ballistic missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle from Pyongyang’s Ryokpho District, which traveled 1,000 kilometers before hitting a target in the Sea of Japan. State media noted that the test represented an operational evaluation of the country’s strategic weapons, which was framed as a show of force hours after the United States launched an attack on Venezuela and abducted its president, Nicolas Maduro.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and former president Dmitry Medvedev has warned that the U.S. attack on Venezuela on January 3 and abduction of President Nicolas Maduro have demonstrated the need for potential targets of Western attacks to focus on strengthening their defensive capabilities. “The operation in Caracas has become the best proof of the fact that any state needs to strengthen its armed forces as much as possible, preventing various rich brazen individuals from easily changing the constitutional order in search of oil or something else,” he observed.
Director of the Republic of China Ministry of National Defence’s Strategic Planning Department Lieutenant General Huang Wen-chi has confirmed plans to re-equip Republic of China Army reserve units with armoured vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and unmanned aircraft, as part of broader efforts to bolster the capabilities of reserve forces. He added that procurement targets will be adjusted as needed based on changes in the security situation in the Taiwan Strait.
A United States Air Force MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle is confirmed to have crashed near Maidan Shahr in central Afghanistan’s Maidan Wardak province, approximately 40 kilometres southwest of the capital Kabul. The Reaper is amongthe most widely used types of combat aircraft in the Western world, and has been deployed for reconnaissance and combat operations from Venezuela, to Yemen, and the South China Sea. The aircraft was remotely piloted from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which is the central hub of American air operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.
A Russian Aerospace Forces Su-34 strike fighter operating under Battlegroup South has launched guided glide bombs against a concentration of Ukrainian personnel and military equipment. Commenting on the operation, the Russian Defence Ministry reported: “The crew of a Su-34 multirole supersonic fighter-bomber of the Aerospace Forces delivered a strike on amassed Ukrainian manpower and armour in the responsibility area of the Battlegroup South.