Can An OPEC Deal Save Venezuelan Oil From Total Collapse?

With the nation’s currency in full-fledged hyperinflationary collapse, OilPrice.com’s Nick Cunningham notes that at times it seems that Venezuela’s economic crisis cannot get any worse. Food shortages, electricity blackouts, and scarce medical supplies have created a humanitarian disaster in Venezuela. However, with each passing month the situation deteriorates, and the crisis appears to be entering a dangerous new phase.
Venezuela’s currency has lost about 60% of its value so far in November, the worst monthly decline on record.
Inflation is thought to be hovering at around 400 percent, according to Bloomberg, although some analysts put it as high as 1,500 percent. ‘Inflation is going to keep rising, there’s a risk of default, and the political situation is becoming more tense each day. People prefer to protect their money,’ Asdrubal Oliveros, director of Caracas-based economic consultancy Ecoanalitica, told Bloomberg.
The horrific humanitarian crisis is only deepening, with food shortages becoming so acute that Venezuelans are starting to flee in large numbers, heading to Colombia, or Brazil, or even setting sail on small boats to seek food, shelter and work on some Caribbean islands. This could yet turn into a major refugee crisis. Venezuela is dangerously short on medical supplies, and the conditions in the country’s hospitals are some of the worst in the world outside of Syria.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Nov 28, 2016.