Trump: "The Art of the Deal" - A Case Study

On Friday, August 28, Trump proudly announced to the world on Truth Social that he entered into an agreement with Venezuela, posting with emphasis, “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY”. “At my direction, we have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of Venezuelan oil, at no cost to U.S. taxpayers”.  He went on to say, “This will MORE THAN DOUBLE American Oil reserves, greatly increase our oil supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans”.  

Wow, sounds pretty good.  A deal to more than replenish the depleted U.S. oil reserves and lower gas prices.

Here’s the catch.

It will take several years of heavy infrastructure rebuilding and billions of dollars in investments before significant amounts of this oil actually flow to markets. Extracting the full 65 billion barrels is projected to take over 25 years.

So, while the agreement might be in place, decades of underinvestment, mismanagement, and neglect have left Venezuela’s oil extraction and processing equipment in a state of severe disrepair.

The type of heavy crude oil we’re talking about here requires complex refinery upgrades, and specific processing capabilities before it can be processed into gasoline.  And that can only be done in the U.S.

Estimates suggest it will require roughly $100 billion in private capital and a multi-year timeline to meaningfully scale-up production.  And there have been no financial commitments made to this extent.

I guess the “art of the deal” doesn’t require any details.

NUFF SED!!!