From CNBC · Anniek Bao · · 1m 30s
Trump floats taking Iran's oil, Venezuela style
Trump says the U.S. could stay in Iran and keep the oil, while Gulf talks on the Strait of Hormuz slip again.
In brief
Trump says the U.S. could stay in Iran and keep the oil, while Gulf talks on the Strait of Hormuz slip again. The war's endgame is being framed as an oil transaction, and until Hormuz is settled, crude above $100 is the market's default. Originally reported by CNBC.
Keep the oil, he says
Speaking at the Irish Open on Sunday, Trump said the U.S. might not leave the Iran war at all, floating control of Iranian oil as the alternative to withdrawal.
“We'll ultimately get out (of the war), unless we decide to stay and keep the oil like Venezuela”
The Venezuela template
August's deal handed Washington majority control of more than 65 billion barrels, double America's own reserves, for $209 billion to Caracas. Rubio said another $100 billion in private investment would follow.
A war that pays for itself
Trump's pitch is fiscal: revenue from the Venezuela arrangement has "paid for the war many times." That reframes occupation as an investment rather than a cost.
Oman talks postponed
Gulf officials and Iran were due to meet Monday and sign a deal on an Iran-Oman shipping route. Oman's foreign minister called it off, citing the need for consensus.
Hormuz stays blockaded
Naval blockades have squeezed the strait since February. Iran strikes ships it deems non-compliant, the U.S. bombs the Iranian coast, and a June accord already collapsed over this same waterway.
Crude back above $100
WTI rose 2.3% to $102.39 and Brent 2.4% to $107.11 after Saudi Arabia shut an East-West pipeline damaged by Iraqi drones. Trump insists prices will "drop like a rock" when the war ends.
What to remember
The war's endgame is being framed as an oil transaction, and until Hormuz is settled, crude above $100 is the market's default.
