Trump’s Venezuelan oil ambitions face steep economic and political hurdles

Donald Trump — described in the piece as "now self-anointed acting president of Venezuela, as well as the United States" — may be keen to appropriate Venezuela's oil, the article says, driven in part by hopes of cheaper fuel and quick cash. The write-up lists several possible motives: a belief that cheap oil would boost the US economy and ease unemployment, an obsession with the price of petrol, and the idea that Venezuelan crude could provide revenue for the US government or, the piece suggests, for Trump's personal finances.

But the article argues the economics and logistics are difficult. The world is "awash in oil" and prices are at their lowest since 2021; Wood Mackenzie estimates Brent would need to be about $80 a barrel to justify greenfield investment in Venezuelan wells, while prices over the last month have hovered between $58.7 and $62.3.

Venezuela produced about 880,000 barrels a day last year — around 1% of world production and 4.3% of what the US pumped — and its heavy Orinoco crude is costly to extract.

Key Topics

Business, Donald Trump, Venezuela, Orinoco Belt, Brent Crude, Wood Mackenzie