Regime Change in Venezuela Could Trigger Oil Price Spike Then Slump

Ever since President Trump ordered the first strike on a boat offshore Venezuela, speculation about a direct intervention in the South American country with a view to regime change has been rife. Much of that has focused on oil, for obvious reasons. For those very same reasons, a U.S. regime change in Venezuela would have far-reaching implications. Venezuela has the largest proven reserves of crude oil in the world. Most of those reserves are heavy crude, for which U.S. Gulf Coast refineries are calibrated. This fact made life temporarily harder…