WTI falls to near $57 as US pledges to build Venezuela Oil infrastructure

• The Oil price declines to near $57.00 as the US vows to restructure Venezuela’s Oil industry.
• The US led Venezuela takeover is unlikely to bring an immediate knee-jerk reaction on the Oil price.
• OPEC decided to leave Oil production targets unchanged in January’s meeting on Sunday.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), futures on NYMEX, trades 0.4% lower to near $57.00 in the late Asian trade on Monday. The Oil price is under pressure after the United States (US) struck Venezuela to capture President Nicolas Maduro against drug-trafficking charges, and vowed to restructure its Oil industry, a move that could increase the global crude supply.

While speaking with reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said that he will bring major American oil companies into Venezuela to build their infrastructure and will sell Oil to other countries.

According to the London-based Energy Institute, Venezuela’s Oil industry accounts for 7% of global reserves or 303 billion barrels.

Currently, Venezuela produces under one million barrels per day of crude oil and exports about 0.5 million barrels per day (bpd), according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Market experts believe that the impact of the US-led takeover of Venezuela won’t bring an immediate knee-jerk reaction on the Oil price, given that the overhaul of the Venezuela’s Oil industry won’t be done overnight.

Meanwhile, the OPEC decided on Sunday to leave the Oil output unchanged again, and didn’t discuss any impact of the US’ pledge to build Venezuela’s Oil infrastructure, CNBC reported. In 2025, OPEC+ members raised oil output targets by around 2.9 million bpd in the first ten months, and kept production targets steady in November and December meetings.

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