U.S. Oil Sanctions on Venezuela Look Like Iran 2.0
Trump’s new restrictions leave little scope for a buyer of Venezuelan crude to appear from anywhere. Flows could trickle to nearly a halt.
Maduro and Rouhani suddenly have a lot more in common.
Photographer: ATTA KENARE/AFPPresident Donald Trump has slapped oil sanctions on Venezuela, and they will hit hard. Although they haven’t been accompanied by threats to drive the country’s oil exports to zero — as the sanctions on Iran were — they could have a similar effect.
There are two strands to the measures: curbs on purchases of the country’s crude, and a ban on imports from the U.S. of the diluents that must be blended with the extra-heavy oil from the nation’s Orinoco Belt so it can flow through pipelines. The first will hit Venezuela’s oil exports, unless it can find alternative buyers, while the second will worsen the blow to production levels.