Liz Peek joined Fox Business’ “The Bottom Line” with Dagen McDowell and Brian Brenberg to unpack the new U.S.-Venezuela oil deal, under which the United States is taking an ownership stake in a Venezuelan company holding rights to 17 oil fields.
Peek said the deal is “all about long-term opportunity” — Venezuela sits on roughly seven times the proven oil reserves the U.S. has, yet produces only about 1.25 million barrels a day versus almost 14 million for America. Production has fallen sharply since the industry was nationalized decades ago, and Peek said heavy Venezuelan crude requires the kind of capital and technical know-how the U.S. can bring.
She cautioned that the arrangement is politically complicated: the Venezuelan partner is tied to Delcy Rodriguez, viewed as a transition figure from the Maduro era, and Peek said she expects the Trump administration’s real goal is pushing toward an actual election, betting that non-Maduro forces are on the rise. “This is a very corrupt country,” she said, adding there’s a real risk socialists attempt to retake power down the road — but if oil production climbs, “the country’s fortunes improve,” which helps whoever ends up in charge. She added that Trump is impatient with how slowly Venezuelan oil output has grown since Maduro’s removal.
Source: Fox Business, The Bottom Line
