(RTTNews) – Crude oil plummeted on Tuesday, giving away yesterday’s gains, as investors resorted to profit-taking while analyzing the consequences of Saturday’s swift U.S. military operation in Venezuela on global oil supply along with other geopolitical tensions.
WTI Crude Oil for February delivery was last seen trading down by $1.11 (or 1.90%) at $57.21 per barrel.
In a strategically precise military operation, U.S. forces captured the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and his wife on Saturday. They were later produced in a court in New York to be tried for serious criminal charges. During the hearing, the couple pleaded “not guilty.”
Saturday’s operation was a culmination of a months-long dispute between U.S. President Donald Trump and Maduro, which started after Trump accused Maduro’s regime of promoting drug smuggling via U.S. borders into the U.S. soil.
Maduro denied the accusations and claimed that Trump wanted to exploit Venezuela’s oil wealth. A founding member of OPEC, Venezuela possesses more oil reserves than each fellow member of the alliance.
After ousting Maduro, Trump announced that the U.S. would be “running” the nation and remarked that U.S. oil majors have now free access to Venezuela’s oil.
Contrary to Trump’s enthusiasm to hold a monopoly over Venezuela’s oil reserves, experts observe that resurrecting Venezuela’s destroyed oil infrastructure would require around $100 billion and around a decade’s time. As of now, only Chevron operates in Venezuela.
Exxon and ConocoPhillips already lost billions in Venezuela when the then regime nationalized oil production in 2007. It appears that U.S. firms are not in a rush to start production there.
In Syria, government forces clashed with the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group backed by the U.S. and led by the Kurds.
Israel conducted aerial strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon yesterday and today, targeting weapons storage sites owned by the Hezbollah and Hamas militant groups.
The dispute between China and Japan over the sovereignty of Taiwan moved to the next level, with China banning exporting dual-use goods that can serve military purposes to Japan.
In Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime is facing protests in more than 200 locations. After around 20 protesters were killed, Trump warned Iran that the U.S. was “locked, loaded, and ready” to rescue the peaceful protesters.
With a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire remaining evasive as the peace proposal authored by the U.S. is yet to take final shape for both the nations to agree, both sides continue to attack each other aggressively.
On the inventory front, on Sunday, the OPEC+ alliance reaffirmed their earlier decision to pause production increases for the early 2026, thereby allaying surplus concerns.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
