Venezuela Sees U.S. Wielding Oil as Weapon to ‘Destroy’ Nation

The U.S. wants to use shale oil as a geopolitical weapon to destroy Venezuela by flooding the market with supply and driving prices down, according to the OPEC member.

Hydraulic fracturing, the method used to remove shale oil trapped in rock, is “destructive,” President Nicolas Maduro said during a national address broadcast on radio and television. Venezuela’s economy shrank 2.8 percent last year as crude slumped almost 50 percent amid the fastest pace of U.S. production in more than three decades while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries resisted calls to cut output.