Alan Zweibel

And why wouldn't those lower prices also benefit countries like the United States that are net exporters of oil? Unless of course, you believe that what's good for US Big oil is good for most Americans. And why would Chevron want to lower the world price of oil? Apart from the obvious reason, It's got huge commitments elsewhere. For instance, in Kazakhstan where it's currently negotiating a renewal of its contracts. I don't think that the kazakhstanis will be too pleased with Chevron if it's complicit in lowering world oil prices

Given that Stevenl had explained that he didn't mean that the USA is literally a banana republic, and your original comment didn't take that into account,nor do youoffer any explanation of where his comprehension has faltered, it's not at all clear that you understand what you wrote.

That would be a very feeble motive. I think Trump's free floating sense of grievance is more than an adequate explanation.

Payments for most petroleum on the world market is settled in dollars. The US dollar is still the world's reserve currency.

I don't care what your alleged credentials are. If the prices of oil are low in the United States, then they're low in Europe too. On an economic basis, why should it matter to Europe where their oil is imported from?

If you believe that the US doesn't need it, butEurope does, then it's clear that you don't understand how the worldwide oil marketplace works.

whatever the validity of lumping these various nations together is, the fact is that the Trump administration doesn't seem very interested in undertaking the enormous expense and effort it would take to rehabilitate Venezuela. I never believed that Iraq was about the oil, but as for Venezuela, it certainly looks that way.

First off, oil is the issue here. Not natural gas. And oil prices are already so low that they're threatening the profitability of fracking. And to restore Venezuela's oil fields to their former glory, the price of a barrel of oil needs to be at a minimum $80. "Going beyond 2 million bpd in the 2030s will be even more challenging. We estimate that a staggering $75 billion in additional investments is needed to bring production from 2 million bpd in the early 2030s to 3 million bpd in 2040. There is an additional layer of complexity, as we estimate that with current technologies and service cost levels, around 60% of this investment, or $44 billion, is associated with projects requiring stable market conditions with oil prices above $80 per barrel." https://www.ajot.com/news/what-would-it-take-to-bring-venezuelas-oil-output-back-to-3-million-bpd-rystad-energy-special-market-update At What Oil Price Will Shale Drillers Stop Drilling? Crude oil prices fell in 2025 amid oversupply Crude oil prices generally declined in 2025 with supplies in the global crude oil market exceeding demand. Crude oil inventory builds in China muted some of the price decline. Events such as Israel’s June 13 strikes on Iran and attacks between Russia and Ukraine targeting oil infrastructure periodically supported prices. On a monthly average basis, the price of Brent crude oil declined from a high of $79 per barrel (b) in January to a low of $63/b in December, which was the lowest monthly average price since early 2021 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=66944 Oil prices forecast to ease in 2026 under pressure from ample supply The global oil market is likely to be under pressure in 2026 as growing supply and weak demand curb prices, and traders monitor OPEC+ for policy signals and any attempts to bolster the market, a Reuters poll showed on Monday. The survey of 34 economists and analysts conducted in December forecast that Brent crude would average $61.27 per barrel in 2026, down from November's forecast of $62.23. U.S. crude is projected to average $58.15 per barrel, below November's estimate of $59.00. https://archive.ph/CrTrB#selection-1331.18-1335.261

Do I really need to invoke how the Iraqis celebrated after Saddam Hussein was deposed? How long did that last?

"Donald Trump’s moves to invade Venezuela, abduct its president and first lady, invite global corporations to exploit its resources, and leave the nation’s feckless authoritarian regime largely intact range from blatantly illegal to facially insane. And the MAGA response to them is the most illustrative yet of the movement’s utter ideological and moral bankruptcy. This is a president who promised to put America first: He ran on isolationism, as well as an end to the era of wars of choice, foreign quagmires, and the U.S. as the world’s police officer. What Trump has offered instead: wars of choice, with America as the world’s plunderer—and his followers not only cheer but invent ridiculous pretexts to defend this utterly unjustifiable move." https://archive.ph/680te#selection-1037.0-1037.748

I don't think you understand. Maduro was forcing all his underlings to participate in his dirty deeds. Now that he's gone, they can rededicate themselves to promoting the welfare of the Venezuelan people.

So not only did the United States lie about the reason for taking military action against Venezuela, but even the pretext was a lie. I think it's fair to say that Trump is now the Neocon-in-Chief.

Why don't you ask them how they feel about his cronies being kept in power? And while you're at it, why don't you ask them how they feel about Trump demanding the seizure of Venezuela's petroleum reserves in order to benefit American oil companies?

Wow! Zelenskyy is a "neo-Nazi" maniac and Jewish. That's quite an achievement.

Your opinion about the quality of various Presidents has nothing to do with the claim by SunnyinBangrak that I addressed.

He didn't even manage to get a majority of the popular vote.

Justice Dept. Drops Claim That Venezuela’s ‘Cartel de los Soles’ Is an Actual Group Last year, before capturing President Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration designated a Venezuelan slang term for drug corruption in the military as a terrorist organization and said he led it. That claim traces back to a 2020 grand jury indictment of Mr. Maduro drafted by the Justice Department. In July 2025, copying language from it, the Treasury Department designated Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist organization. In November, Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and President Trump’s national security adviser, ordered the State Department to do the same. https://archive.ph/EbLvr One down. Will fake allegations about Antifa follow?

As I've noted elsewhere, after Noriega was taken out of Panama, it's cocaine transshipments continued to grow. Why would anyone believe that taking one person out of this system is going to make a difference? In fact, given the 50+ years of failure in trying to suppress this trade, why does anyone think that attacking the supply side is going to succeed?

This makes no sense at all.

Well, she was forbidden from running for office for the latest Presidential election. So it was an ally of hers who ran and really won. But Trump is apparently ignoring him, too.

Why would Trump feel obliged have the US support Venezuelans? Most other would. But this is Donald Trump. He has a history of leaving Americans in the lurch after natural disasters. Why would he care about Venezuelans?

Venezuela is a very small player when it comes to petroleum.

I don't see any evidence that there is a reluctance on the part of oil companies to invest in Islamic countries. Even those riven by strife seem to draw investment.

The plans for the aftermath of the Iraq War were rightly criticized for being less than thoroughly thought through. But this situation looks like it was composed on a note pad. Make that 2 note pads. One from Rubio and the other from Trump.

But what if potential returns elsewhere are huge and there's less risk? Or maybe not so huge but still a lot less risk. Why would an oil company necessarily be interested in such a risk fraught proposition. That's why I speculated that Trump would find a way to subsidize them to lower or eliminate the risk.