Expert Lists Reasons Venezuelan Oil Can't Save U.S. Economy

Bulwark economics editor Catherine Rampell says Trump’s recent invasion of Venezuela is “unlikely to be a good deal for U.S. taxpayers or U.S. companies,” Adam Lynch reported for AlterNet.

The quality of that oil is “heavy, sticky, dense, highly sulfuric, and expensive to extract.” (Photo: Wilfredor)

“Trump … invaded Venezuela because he only believes in war for profit and for years has been saying U.S. military strategy should be guided by the opportunity to make money by seizing other countries’ natural resources,” Rampell wrote.

“But Trump is also notoriously a moron who does zero homework.”

There are four reasons Trump’s invasion will likely backfire, she said, beginning with the global glut of oil that Trump wants to worsen with even more Venezuelan crude.

“The world is … experiencing oversupply right now, which drove prices down all of last year,” Rampell said. “The annual average inflation-adjusted price of Brent crude oil last year was $69 per barrel, which is the lowest since 2020.”

Trump campaigned on “drill, baby, drill,” but former senior U.S. economist at BP Mark Finley told Rampell that the U.S. “can’t have ‘drill, baby, drill’ and low oil prices.”

Second is the nature of Venezuelan oil itself. The quality of that oil is “heavy, sticky, dense, highly sulfuric, and expensive to extract.”

Third, Venezuela’s political instability and history of seizing international oil companies’ assets and investments present major obstacles.

There was also a fourth reason international oil producers may stall investments in Trump’s new “broken toy” of a nation.

“While Trump can bully companies into making investments that lack financial sense, he can’t actually bully those investments into profitability,” Rampell concluded.