Trump plans to use Venezuela’s huge crude reserves ‘to cut US oil price to $50 a barrel’

<p>President reportedly hopes falling price will cut domestic consumer energy bills</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/jan/08/marks-spencer-tesco-greggs-christmas-trading-house-prices-stock-markets-business-live-news-updates">Business live – latest updates</a></p><p></p></li></ul><p>Donald Trump plans to use Venezuela’s vast crude reserves to establish control of most of the western hemisphere’s oil in an attempt to drive the market price down to about $50 (£37) a barrel, according to reports.</p><p>The US president has repeatedly raised the prospect of producing enough crude from Venezuela’s oilfields to drive down the US oil price from more than $56 a barrel today to about $50 in an effort to cut energy costs for consumers, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited senior Trump administration officials.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/08/trump-plans-use-venezuela-huge-oil-reserves-to-cut-us-consumer-price-to-50-a-barrel">Continue reading...</a>