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00:03Venezuela's refining system continues to deteriorate as years of underinvestment,
00:08equipment failures, and limited maintenance leave the country's largest refineries
00:12operating well below capacity, according to Reuters. Workers described rusting equipment,
00:18leaking infrastructure, and idled processing units at the Paraguana Refining Center
00:23and other facilities. The Trump administration extended licenses to foreign companies
00:28seeking to expand or return to Venezuela, while crude production recovered.
00:34Industry analysts said restoring refining capacity would require at least $20 billion,
00:39while June's deadly earthquakes have pushed rebuilding efforts further down the priority list.
00:44U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said U.S. refineries were designed to process Venezuelan
00:50crude and are receiving large volumes of the country's oil. For all things money, visit Benzinga.com.
