You may remember that the United States arrested and jailed Venezuela’s former President Nicolas Maduro in a nighttime raid that stunned the world. Since the arrest, the Trump administration has worked to build strong relations with the new leaders of Venezuela, and the root of that relationship is developing the country’s oil industry.
It has now been reported that the United States and Venezuela are in talks over a deal that would secure Venezuelan oil fields for American companies. The deal could also see Venezuela leave OPEC, the global oil cartel, which it helped found. Al Jazeera reports:
Caracas is considering leaving the OPEC oil production group as it strengthens ties with the US, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Venezuela, which joined the group as a founding member in 1960, has not met OPEC quotas for years as its state-run oil industry suffered from neglect and corruption. Washington has long been at odds with OPEC for its influence on oil prices.
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