The share price of several American oil firms soared in the wake of US military action in Venezuela.
On Saturday, the US launched large scale strikes on the Venezuelan capital of Caracas as it captured the country’s president Nicolas Maduro and took him into custody.
Donald Trump’s administration has been targeting the South American nation as part of their war on drug-trafficking, and have previously ordered strikes on boats from the region.
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Trump has said the US will “run the country” until there is a “proper” transition of power, with Venezuela’s Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez sworn in as interim president on Monday.
But many believe another main reason for the action was Venezuela’s huge oil reserves. Trump has vowed to American oil companies will “fix” Venezuela’s oil infrastructure to “start making money for the country.”
And, would you believe it, on Monday morning the share prices of several US oil companies such as Chevron and Exxon had gone up, as was pointed out by Lewis Goodall on X.
Of course, any gains from the share rises are “way, way off”, as Goodall highlighted, but the market’s going to do what the market’s going to do…
At the time of writing, Chevron’s share price is up 8% today, Exxon Mobil’s is up 2%, Halliburton is up 11% and ConocoPhillips is up 3%.
Over the coming weeks, there will be much attention on the price of oil. Sky News reports that the initial reaction from the market was “muted”, with small falls followed by rises on Monday.
But the uncertainty over the future of oil prices did spark a rise in the price of gold, silver and copper, considered “safe haven” metals.
Venezuela sits on the largest proven oil reserves on the planet, but produces tiny amounts by comparison due to a lack of infrastructure.
Trump has promised sell Venezuelan oil “in much larger doses”, and to “many more” countries than whilst America “runs” the South American nation.
However, experts have warned this will take billions in investment and perhaps up to a decade before a meaningful uplift in oil output, the BBC reports.