A recent blackout in Venezuela disrupted operations at PDVSA’s 940,000 barrel-per-day refining complex, threatening to exacerbate fuel shortages that have already become commonplace in the country. The incident came after Venezuela saw several months of relatively stable oil production. While the outage is likely only temporary, another threat to Venezuela’s oil sector looms in just a few weeks. The U.S. government has been unable to dislodge President Nicolas Maduro from power, but could take another dramatic escalatory measure intended to knock oil supply offline. Venezuela’s oil sector stabilized, but more threats loom The U.S.-backed campaign to topple President Maduro began in January. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó was the public face of the effort, but American sanctions on PDVSA and Venezuela’s oil exports were the screws that rapidly ratcheted up the pressure on Caracas. Venezuela’s oil production was already in decline, but plunged by 142,000 barrels per day (b/d) in […]