President Trump suggested Wednesday that the US would be controlling Venezuela—and its oil industry—for a matter of years. Asked in a New York Times interview if the timeline was for six months or perhaps a year, Trump responded, "I would say much longer." The Wall Street Journal similarly reports that the administration plans to dominate the nation's oil industry "for years to come," adding that Trump has told aides he has a goal in mind of lowering the price of oil to $50 a barrel.
The Journal notes that while oil prices are currently low, about $56 a barrel, the Trump goal is nonetheless notable: "Many companies see $50 a barrel as a threshold below which it becomes unprofitable to drill, and a sustained period of low oil prices could decimate the U.S. shale industry, which has been a key backer of the president." Much remains in flux, but the US plans to exert some degree of control over the state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, and its huge oil reserves.
"We're going to be using oil, and we're going to be taking oil," Trump told the Times. "We're getting oil prices down, and we're going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need." The US would essentially control the bulk of oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere, while keeping Russia and China out of the mix in Venezuela, notes the Journal. Much remains in flux, but Trump is set to press major oil executives at the White House for ways to make the plan work.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
