China has slammed US President, Donald Trump’s plans to take oil from Venezuela.
Speaking to reporters, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Mao Ning asserted that the US demand that Venezuela form an “exclusive partnership” in the oil sector is a “typical bullying” act and a violation of the Latin American nation’s sovereignty as well as international law.
She noted that Venezuela is a sovereign state and has full permanent sovereignty over its oil resources and economic activities.
“The US’s blatant use of force against Venezuela and asking the country to favour America when handling its own oil resources is a typical bullying act, seriously violating international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty.
“Let me stress that China and other countries have legitimate rights in Venezuela, which must be protected.”
Mao Ning
She said that cooperation pacts between Beijing and Caracas are signed between two “sovereign states and are protected” by both domestic and international law.
China is Venezuela’s second-largest trade partner after the US, and the current bilateral volume stands at about $7bn.
Mao said that China strongly condemns the United States’ military operation against Venezuela and the US demand for “America First” when it comes to Venezuela’s dealing with its own oil resources.
She stated that the US move, a typical act of bullying, seriously violates international law, infringes upon Venezuela’s sovereignty, and undermines the rights of the Venezuelan people.
She emphasized that dividing spheres of influence and creating geopolitical confrontation will not make a country more secure, nor will it bring peace to the world. She added that shared security and cooperative security are the only sustainable paths to security.
Move Aimed At Directing Venezuela’s Oil Away From China
Analysts say that Trump’s move is aimed at directing oil away from China, Venezuela’s number one buyer.
Janiv Shah, Vice President of oil markets and downstream analysis at Rystad Energy, said that the volume of oil barrels that Trump has requested from Venezuela “isn’t a huge amount.”
“If you consider the global balance and how oversupply the global crude incontinence of even total liquids balances are, this is a drop in the ocean.”
Janiv Shah
However, he said that it is also a signal to China, as the oil, which accounts for 4 percent of the country’s oil imports, is now unlikely to be sent to China, and it will have to gain new sources of crude.
“It also means that the Gulf Coast and mid-continent refineries within the US are likely to reshuffle once more and welcome these heavy, sour Venezuelan barrels, which could potentially back out a little bit of Canadian volumes.
“So we see some discounting on the pricing side for regional grades as more Venezuelan material becomes more available in the system.”
Janiv Shah
Also, Thomas O’Donnell, Energy and geopolitical strategist, told a news agency that Trump’s announcement that Venezuela will turn over 30-50 million barrels of oil is still “symbolic” at the moment.
He explained that the oil is supposed to go through Chevron ships, which, if you crunch the numbers, could take about 2,000 days to complete. What Trump really wants is to recover the oil production in a “major way” in the country, he said, adding that it is a “complicated process.”
“I think the first thing here is that he needs to have an agreement with the government, they need to have some kind of transition that’s stable over a long period of time before you’re going to get foreign companies to put a lot of money in there.
“They also want to get back the money they’re still owed, that’s what the Chinese are about.”
Thomas O’Donnell
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