Donald Trump Oil Plan Faces Profitability Roadblock

Donald Trump’s intended oil play in Venezuela may be harder to make profitable than expected as low global crude prices and doubts about the quantity and quality of Venezuelan barrels risk deterring major U.S. oil companies.That commercial uncertainty follows Trump’s earlier seizure of Nicolás Maduro, an accompanying oil blockade and a week of U.S. military actions that included strikes in Caracas and the boarding of the Russian-flagged tanker Bella 1, also called Marinera.The campaign has prompted threats of sweeping sanctions and tariffs up to 500 percent, the release of two Russian crew after Maria Zakharova and Kirill Dmitriev intervened, a pledge of at least $100 billion from Big Oil to rebuild infrastructure, regional hedging toward China and increased outreach to the EU and India, and domestic pushback including a 52–47 war powers vote led by Michael Bennet and Foro Penal reporting roughly 806 political prisoners.