Venezuela bemoans falling oil price

"In a situation of price war like this, in a situation of destabilisation, the Belt has unrivalled advantages," he said. "Many of the producers, who have benefited in recent years from the development of projects which would not have been possible with different prices, are the first to fall." Independent experts calculate that the cost of producing, mixing and transporting the Orinoco's oil is around $50 per barrel if all the crudes and components used for that are local, but PDVSA has been importing costly naphtha on the open market to use it as diluent for its extra heavy crudes. By comparison, some independent shale crude producers in the United States need prices higher than $80 per barrel to keep their projects ongoing. More…