Venezuela’s Oil Situation Worsens; Protests Go On
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CARACAS, Venezuela — Waving banners, banging pots and chanting slogans demanding the ouster of President Hugo Chavez, several thousand marchers took to the streets here Tuesday, the 16th day of an opposition strike that has crippled Venezuela’s oil industry.
The strike has reduced Venezuela’s output of more than 2 million barrels a day to less than 400,000 barrels a day, sending crude prices above $30 a barrel, state officials said Tuesday.
One of the world’s largest oil refineries halted production because of the strike. Curacao’s Refineria Isla was running out of storage capacity because tankers have been idled by the work stoppage, said Norbert Chaclin, a refinery manager.
The refinery, operated by Venezuela’s state oil company, usually produces gasoline, lubricants, jet fuel, propane and other products for the U.S. and the Caribbean, he said.
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