Venezuela’s August crude exports jumped almost 30% from the previous month, as the Trump administration prepares to take greater control of the country’s oil industry. Washington recently took a stake in a firm — run by a former Venezuelan government contractor who faces widespread corruption accusations — in an effort to tap the world’s largest oil reserves and tame fuel prices at home.
Though critics say the deal risks entrenching Caracas’ authoritarian rulers and raises uncertainties for other investors in the South American nation, Washington has defended it as necessary to expand US crude reserves and refill the country’s strategic petroleum stocks, which have fallen to record lows as the Middle East conflict draws out.