Reply #8: No. Nor can we kill his with a boycott. [View All]

[eallen]

If Venezuela doesn't sell the US oil, we buy it from someone else. If the US refuses to buy Venezuelan oil, they sell it elsewhere.

Oil sells in a global market. Tankers carry it across the world's oceans. Obviously, all other things being equal, the market naturally tries to minimize transportation costs. And it is those transportation costs that account for the difference between oil prices in London, New York, etc. But that's a small part of the energy picture, the difference between $64/bbl and $64.50/bbl.

Now, the US could kill the Venezuelan economy with a true embargo, where we prevent it from exporting ANYWHERE. But (a) that is an act of war, and (b) that would raise WORLD prices for oil, and piss off many other consumer nations.