Maduro accuses US of using oil as political weapon

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has again alleged that the US is using oil as a political weapon.

Maduro made the remarks at a rally in the capital Caracas on Saturday following his return from official tours of China, Russia and five member nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria.

The Venezuelan president specifically mentioned Russia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and his own country as examples of nations that the US is trying to gain political leverage against by using the price of oil as a pressure point.

The key objective of Maduro’s recent tour was to try to bring about a consensus among OPEC members as well as other oil-exporting states to return crude prices to an acceptable level.

The president of Venezuela also declared that new agreements are to be arranged in response to the tense situation on the oil market.

The development comes as Venezuela has lost over 55 percent of its national revenues in the past six months as the result of crashing oil prices.

Oil prices have plunged by over 50 percent since June of last year because of oversupply by a number of oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia as well as lackluster global economic growth.

OPEC, which produces nearly 40 percent of the world’s oil, decided last year against slashing its production to balance the market due to opposition from Saudi Arabia.