Donald Trump continues to bumble around.
Another indication of Trump's advancing dementia. He read out loud a note which was meant for him personally. It's a good thing the note didn't contain nuclear launch codes.
Donald Trump humiliated himself Friday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to slyly pass him a note during a meeting with oil executives, and the president immediately read it aloud. Trump was in the midst of promising “a very nice return” for executives from Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, Halliburton, Valero, and Marathon—in exchange for a $100 billion investment in rebuilding Venezuela’s energy sector, when he was suddenly sidetracked by a scrap of paper from Rubio. “You’re all gonna do very well—Marco just gave me a note. ‘Go back to Chevron, they want to discuss something,’” Trump read, turning to look at Chevron Vice Chairman Mark Nelson. “Go ahead, I’m going back to Chevron, Mark.” Rubio grimaced uncomfortably, as Trump patted him on the back. “Thank you, Marco,” he said.
Trump had the US oil barons at the Oval Office to try to interest them in Venezuelan oil. But another story broke today which may give them second thoughts.
Iraq, site of another American military involvement related to oil, is nationalizing one of the world's largest oil fields.
Iraq to nationalise West Qurna 2 oilfield operations, government says
Iraq's cabinet has approved plans to nationalise operations at the West Qurna 2 oilfield, one of the world's largest, as the government looks to avert disruptions stemming from U.S. sanctions imposed on Russian stakeholder Lukoil (LKOH.MM) State-run Basra Oil Company will take over the oil field's operations for 12 months, two officials at the firm told Reuters.
It took a dozen or so years just to stabilize the situation in Iraq after the US invasion. Despite all the cost and lost lives on America's part, the Russians ended up with a big investment there.
Ironically, Trump's sanctions against Russian oil led to a state-run Iraqi oil company taking over operations for the next year.
US oil companies may not be thrilled about going to Venezuela which is still in a state of flux. And it's entirely possible that some future nationalist successor of Maduro or Chavez may just decide to nationalize the US oil companies there.














