Impact of US actions in Venezuela on North American oil producers remains limited: Fitch

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Fitch Ratings reported Tuesday that the US actions in Venezuela have had a limited impact on North American oil producers.

"Recent U.S. involvement in Venezuela could ultimately support oil production growth in the country and benefit U.S. exploration and production (E&P) companies should they result in policy shifts that enable increased foreign participation in the sector," the international credit rating agency said in a statement.

However, meaningful gains would likely require major investment and time, and investment incentives remain limited in a currently oversupplied global market, it said.

The statement indicated that the US actions in Venezuela have had a limited impact on North American oil producers, noting that Canadian crude oil exports could face price pressure in a low-probability scenario, such as a rapid increase in Venezuelan crude oil supply, but that this would have a limited impact on credit ratings due to the significant resilience Canadian producers possess.

The statement emphasized that American refineries, particularly those with a high level of complexity, would likely benefit from this situation, suggesting that the US intervention in Venezuela could increase future production capacity by providing companies with access to the country's vast reserves and opportunities to invest in infrastructure reconstruction.

It added that this could, in the long term, reduce raw material costs and improve refineries' profit margins.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that the US is “in charge” of Venezuela, following the operation that resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, with US forces flying them out to New York, where they pleaded not guilty on drug- and weapons-related charges.

Trump stated that major US oil companies would be brought in to rebuild Venezuela’s infrastructure, saying they would invest billions of dollars without US government funding.