The US made a deal last year to drop sanctions through mid-April if free elections were held. At the time, Venezuela said it had hoped to boost production to 1 mbpd from 786k bpd.
Chevron was also drilling to boost production in the country.
That deal looks to be dead after opposition candidate María Corina Machado is barred from running. There were signs this was coming so I don’t think it’s a shock but it’s one source of upside risk to oil supply that’s curbed.
WTI crude is down $1.05 to $76.95 today as the Red Sea opening pop to $79.29 was faded.