Pentagon-Backed Venezuelan Oil Firm Set to Surpass Chevron as Top Private Producer
🛢️ VENEZUELA — Pentagon's oil bet surfaces as Hormuz keeps Gulf barrels trapped. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Washington backing a Venezuelan producer isn't charity — it's supply replacement. Hormuz chokes Gulf flows; Saudi STS capacity is maxed. The Pentagon needs Western-aligned barrels outside the war zone. Displacing Chevron signals a structural shift, not a stopgap. Caracas gains leverage over both Washington and Beijing.
