Mint Explainer: Why haven't oil prices crashed after US action in Venezuela?
Mint explains why oil prices have remained range-bound and what it means for India.Oil prices are back to where they were before the US action in Venezuela. On 3 January, US forces attacked the Venezuelan capital Caracas and captured President Mudaro. When the markets opened on 5 January, the benchmark Brent Crude saw a marginal spike to $62.56 a barrel.
But the gains did not hold. Early on 8 January it was trading at $60.94, around where it was on 1 January after it was announced that Venezuela would turn in up to 50 million barrels of oil to the US.Yes. The entry of Venezuelan oil will destabilise the global market, already drowning in a surplus of almost 4 million barrels per day (bpd).
The South American nation sits on 304 billion barrels of oil reserves, the largest in the world, and US President Donald Trump plans to control Venezuela’s oil sector indefinitely. He wants US oil majors to invest heavily to exploit Venezuela's reserves. On Friday he called for a meeting with the top executives of Chevron, Exxon and ConocoPhillips.
However, they do not share his enthusiasm, which is why oil prices have stayed flat.Though Venezuela sits on huge reserves, its oil output is just 9,30,000 bpd – less than 1% of global output. This is because the sector has suffered from decades of under-investment and crumbling infrastructure. Reviving it will require billions of dollars of investment, which makes little sense at the current low oil prices.
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