Oil prices fell on Monday after a US military operation seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whose country has the world’s biggest proven crude reserves.
Increased volumes of Venezuelan oil entering the market would add to oversupply concerns and put further pressure on oil prices, which have fallen in recent months.
In morning trade in Asia, Brent Crude was down 0.21 percent at $60.62 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate was off 0.35 percent at $57.12, both off earlier lows.
US forces attacked Caracas in the early hours of Saturday, bombing military targets and spiriting away Maduro and his wife to face federal narcotrafficking charges in New York.
US President Donald Trump has said that the United States will now “run” Venezuela and send US companies to fix its badly dilapidated oil infrastructure.
After years of under-investment and sanctions, Venezuela currently pumps around one million barrels per day, down from around 3.5 mb/d in 1999.
But analysts say that alongside other major questions about Venezuela’s future, substantially lifting its oil production will not be easy or quick.
“Any recovery in production would require substantial investment given the crumbling infrastructure resulting from years of mismanagement and underinvestment,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo told AFP.
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Investing today also holds little appeal: oil prices are weighed down by a supply glut and fell in 2025 despite significant growth headwinds like Trump’s tariff war and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
AFP
