A deal to give Russia’s Rosneft 49.9% ownership of US refiner Citgo if Venezuela’s cash-strapped national oil company PDVSA defaults on its loans threatens US national security and should be investigated by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, two US congressmen have said. “This would give Russia clear control over the sixth-largest refinery in our country, the ability to impact gas prices for the American people, and a strategic advantage over US freedom of action globally,” Representative Jeff Duncan, Republican-South Carolina, said in a statement Thursday. Duncan and Representative Albio Sires, Democrat-New Jersey, asked US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, CFIUS’ chairman, in a letter Thursday to investigate the deal. They are the top members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Western Hemisphere subcommittee. CFIUS is an inter-agency committee that scrutinizes foreign investments for national security implications. In November, PDVSA assigned as collateral to Rosneft “all […]