In the U.S. embargo on Venezuelan oil, Russia is a clear winner
In the year since the Trump administration declared what amounted to economic war against the Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro — an oil embargo that cut it off from its biggest petroleum buyer, the United States — the move has yielded some clear losers, including U.S. investors now shut out of the market.
It has also produced one clear winner: Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
U.S. officials, oil industry insiders and analysts say secret deals between Moscow and Caracas to produce, transport and sell oil to other markets have become a cash cow for Russia that is earning its state-controlled enterprises an estimated $120 million a month.
The Russians describe their relationship with the South American nation, home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves, as one of “mutual cooperation.” Since Hugo Chávez founded the socialist state in 1999, Russia has become its primary supplier of military equipment and advisers, a consistent supporter in international bodies and a key source of government loans and investment.
But now, observers say, the Russians are to some extent extorting Maduro, Chávez’s successor, who has been boxed in by the United States. Washington is blacklisting ships that transport Venezuelan crude and threatening secondary measures against any entity, including international banks and customers, that “materially assist” Maduro’s government. That’s made Venezuela’s greatest asset — its oil — a globally toxic brand. [Continue reading…]