Commentary: Trump's deal for Venezuela's oil is secretive, exaggerated and suspicious

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Set us as preferred Here’s what President Trump has said about his deal for Venezuelan oil: that it’s a deal with the current Venezuelan government, that it will more than double U.S.oil reserves and that it will “substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future.”Here’s a simple rule of thumb for assessing all these claims: None of them is true.The deal is with a private company of suspect character, which may enable White House to keep its details under wraps.

The quality of the oil is so low, and the cost of extracting and refining it so high, that counting it as part of America’s petroleum reserves is what Mark Twain’s Huck Finn generally called a “stretcher.” Most of it comes out of the ground with the consistency of cold peanut butter.— David I.Levine, UC Berkeley, on the quality of Venezuelan oilAs for bringing down U.S.

gas prices, either today or “long into the future,” on the gonna happen scale that’s a “not.” And that’s even assuming that a future Venezuelan regime won’t put a match to the whole thing.Before getting into the details of these fatuous claims, a few words of background on Trump’s Venezuelan adventure are warranted.Commentary on economics and more from a Pulitzer Prize winner.By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver.

You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.Trump launched aggressive moves against the dictatorial regime of Nicolás Maduro last year.

These encompassed “attacks on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean purportedly carrying drugs destined for the U.S., tankers carrying oil to Chi...