Oil From Venezuela and Iran Would be Banned Under New Rubio Bill

  • Florida Republican says funds would only help ‘dictators’
  • Key Democrats also oppose seeking oil from Caracas, Tehran

An oil refinery in Cabimas, Venezuela.

Photographer: Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg
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Future U.S. imports of oil from Venezuela and Iran would be banned under legislation being introduced this week by Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican and member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

The move is an attempt to forestall any potential effort by the Biden administration to turn to Venezuela or Iran -- if a nuclear deal is reached with Tehran -- as a cushion to rising crude prices sparked by the Ukraine war and a U.S. ban on Russian oil imports.