The White House considers a fair oil price of $50 per barrel

U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration plan to take control of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in order to ultimately lower oil prices to $50 per barrel, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources.

According to the publication, the plan being developed by the U.S. administration envisions that the U.S. will control most of PDVSA's oil production and sales, meaning that Washington will be able to manage the extraction of a large portion of the oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere. Among other things, the U.S. is considering the possibility of creating joint ventures between American companies and PDVSA.

This plan, the publication notes, could help the U.S. president achieve a political goal of reducing oil prices to $50 per barrel, which in turn would lower energy prices for American consumers. In addition, Trump and his administration aim to push Russia and China out of Venezuela, the article states.

At the same time, the newspaper notes that if the price of oil falls below $50 per barrel, its extraction will cease to be profitable for many oil companies, and such a price level could also destroy shale oil production in the U.S.

In the early 2000s, approximately 30 billion cubic meters of gas (mostly associated gas) were produced annually in Venezuela. In 2020, 18 billion cubic meters were extracted.

The nominal capacity of the state company's refineries was 2.275 million barrels per day, but the actual level of petroleum product production was much lower — 339,000 barrels per day.