Why the US has designs on Venezuela’s oil

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Venezuela’s oil industry has been in the spotlight since President Donald Trump used military force to capture the country’s leader, President Nicolas Maduro.

In the days that followed, Trump said the U.S. would run Venezuela and tap its oil reserves. He said Venezuela stole U.S. oil, a reference to former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s move decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies.

Trump floated a plan for those companies to return and rebuild Venezuela’s beleaguered oil industry. He later announced Venezuela would provide 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. Then the administration “selectively” removed sanctions to enable the shipping and sale of Venezuelan oil to markets worldwide, saying the proceeds would settle in U.S.-controlled accounts and be disbursed to the American and Venezuelan populations, according to the Energy Department.

The moves may be part of a l...