Trump's Venezuelan Oil Deal May Ease Iran War Strain, But Billions Will Be Required

President Donald Trump's deal to tap Venezuela's vast oil reserves could potentially ease the strain on global markets caused by the ongoing Iran war, but analysts warn that it will take significant investment and time for this to have a tangible impact on gas prices. According to GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan, the idea of lower gas prices is 'promising' but requires billions of dollars in investments to extract the estimated 65 billion barrels of oil from Venezuela.

'Sounds promising, but it still will take billions of investment to get that oil,' said De Haan. He noted that this process won't happen overnight or even in months, as changing fuel prices is a slow and complex process. 'Drilling/pumping' the estimated 65 billion barrels of oil will take a very long time.'

Another challenge to achieving lower gas prices lies in the constrained refining capacity globally. Even with additional oil, we lack enough global refining capacity to translate lower oil prices into lower fuel prices.