Merey 16 is not simply oil; it is a triumph of blending engineering over geological constraints.
In its base state, crude produced from Venezuela’s Orinoco Oil Belt (Faja Petrolífera del Orinoco, or FPO) is an extra-heavy hydrocarbon with an API gravity ranging between 8 and 10 degrees. It is so dense that, when extracted, it has a consistency similar to an almost solid paste.
This “paste” is the result of a chemical structure dominated by asphaltenes, complex, high–molecular-weight molecules, and a sulfur content that can reach 3.4% by weight. That level of sulfur technically classifies it as a sour crude.
To make this resource marketable globally, state-owned PDVSA carries out a blending process in which the extra-heavy crude is mixed with lighter diluents to reach 16 degrees API, creating the Merey 16 grade.
This blend is valued for its very high yield of heavy residues, which are well suited for the production of bituminous materials.
Iran’s role: condensates and gases as strategic solvents
The Merey 16 value chain would collapse without Iran’s technology and inputs. Because Venezuelan crude is so dense that it cannot naturally flow through pipelines, it must be “liquefied” through the injection of natural gas condensates. These are extremely light and volatile byproducts that Iran produces in large volumes at the South Pars field, one of the world’s largest gas reservoirs.
These condensates act as a chemical solvent. When mixed with Orinoco extra-heavy crude, they disrupt the intermolecular forces of the asphaltenes, sharply reducing viscosity and allowing the oil to be transported from the fields to the José Antonio Anzoátegui Industrial Complex, Venezuela’s main heavy-crude processing hub.
Over the past year, this exchange expanded under a technical barter arrangement in which Iran supplied about 66,000 barrels per day of condensate in exchange for cargoes of Merey 16. The symbiosis allowed Venezuela to keep production running despite severe restrictions on access to Western diluents such as light naphtha.
To meet pipeline transport specifications, a 3-to-1 blending ratio is required. That means combining three barrels of extra-heavy Orinoco crude with one barrel of light crude or condensate, resulting in a Merey-type blend with an API gravity of about 16.5 degrees.
This 3:1 dilution (three extra-heavy barrels to one light or condensate barrel) produces a 16.5-degree API Merey blend suitable for pipelines. Orinoco crudes are like wheat flour and light crudes are like water: without the fluid, the flour has zero value.
China, the final destination for Asian development
If Iran facilitates the flow, China is the end consumer that turns this blend into infrastructure for national development.
Merey 16 is a preferred feedstock for China’s independent refineries, known as “teapots,” located mainly in Shandong province. These plants are equipped with high-complexity configurations, including coking units and vacuum distillation, designed specifically to process crudes with high metal content, such as vanadium and nickel, and high sulfur levels.
China’s competitive advantage lies in its ability to exploit the bottom of the barrel. While other refiners view the heavy residues from Merey 16 as a problem, China uses them to support its massive infrastructure program.
The asphalt derived from this crude has superior cohesion and durability, making it essential for paving high-speed highways and airport runways across the country.
In 2025, China is estimated to have absorbed nearly 75% of Venezuela’s total crude exports, consolidating a cycle in which Venezuelan oil literally ends up cementing the trade routes of the world’s second-largest economy.