Venezuela courting disaster
A Supreme Court ruling has given the president broad authority to strike oil deals. Will there be any takers?
Venezuela's economic and political crisis only seems to know one direction: descent. The latest lurch towards the abyss came after a 30 March decision from the Supreme Court, stacked with loyalists to social president Nicolás Maduro, that effectively dissolved the opposition-led National Assembly and assumed the body's powers for itself. The decision triggered an intense backlash that clearly caught the government off guard. Weeks of protests in the streets of Caracas followed. The head of the Organisation of American States, Luis Almagro, decried the decision as a "self-inflicted coup d'état" and called Maduro's government a "dictatorship". It was even a step too far for at least one person
Also in this section
26 April 2024
While the US has been breaking records for its premium grade crude, there are doubts over whether you can have too much of a good thing
26 April 2024
Slowing demand growth and capacity expansions will squeeze refiners in coming years
25 April 2024
Some companies with assets in Israel have turned towards Egypt as tensions escalate, but others are holding firm despite rising tensions
24 April 2024
But even planned exploration activity is unlikely to reverse declining output from mature fields