A panicking Joe Biden has realized that his best friends, now that oil prices are soaring again and the SPR remains largely drained, are tinpot banana-republic "Dictators" like Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, and on Wednesday the White House suspended sanctions on Venezuelan oil, gas and gold production.
Since it would be too corrupt even for Biden to drop sanctions on Maduro in exchange for just a few barrels oil and nothing else, the White House pretended that the deal was in exchange for "Promoting democracy", and In return the Nicolas Maduro government promised a deal with the opposition that could see elections held next year.
"Consistent with U.S. sanctions policy, in response to these democratic developments, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has issued General Licenses authorizing transactions involving Venezuela's oil and gas sector and gold sector, as well as removing the ban on secondary trading," he added.
Of course, the Biden admin won't revoke the deal as long as it gets some oil; then once Biden loses the 2024 elections all bets are off.
Crude oil exports from Venezuela last month topped 800,000 barrels daily, which was the second-highest monthly export rate since the start of the year.
So how much oil is Biden's deal unlocking? According to Bloomberg, Venezuela could be able to raise its crude oil production by 25% from current levels if the temporary U.S. easing of the oil sanctions becomes permanent.
Oil stocks will be in focus Thursday as crude slid on the confirmation of the sanctions being lifted.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/biden-lifts-sanctions-venezuela-dictator-maduro-exchange-oil
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