You know, a funny thing...
I think we don't realize the total reliance the world has on oil/Petrochemicals.
Most people think right off the bat, that it's use is for fuel in one form or another. What most don't consider, is how much we use in lubricants, cleaning solvents, Asphalt, roofing materials, and a big one now, Plastics and synthetic rubber. We could actually cut down on Petrochemical use if we went back to buying products that were finished in wood and steel, instead of plastic. Take for example modern firearms. Alot of Semi-auto's out on the market now have Poly(read, plastic) Frames. Alot of rifles have plastic stocks and furniture. Hell, they're making ammo with plastic cases.
But where you are seeing the biggest usage is in either Automobiles, or the home. In the Home, you see quite a bit of plastic furniture such as childrens' beds, outdoor chairs, TV cabinets, etc. In automobiles, you see quite a bit of body parts and interior pieces made of plastic...Which was just a little bit of a typical '60's or '70's american car.
Now, where this has relevance to the topic at hand, is that Heavy Crude, Such as what Venezuela produces, is where a large part of other-than-fuel usage is made from. It's more diffacult to refine Hvy. Crude into fuel, so alot more of it finds it's way into other usage than would say, Light sweet crude(Such as what comes from Saudi Arabia.)
Since this just barely happened, It will be kind of interesting to watch developements over the next few days.
