Benefits for Texas could be mixed as U.S. looks to tap Venezuelan oil,

Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media

At a recent protest in Houston, demonstrators criticized the United States’ involvement in Venezuela.

“I think it’s very obvious that this is really only about oil,” said Caleb Kurowski, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which coordinated the protest.

Ezra Henderson, a Navy veteran at the protest, agreed.

“It’s all about the oil,” he said. “That’s the big part.”

There’s been a renewed focus on the oil industry following the United States’ apprehension of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last weekend.

President Donald Trump announced this week that Venezuela would give the U.S. up to 50 million barrels of oil.

Venezuela’s state-owned oil firm confirmed that it’s negotiating the sale of its oil to the United States.

The benefits could be mixed for Texas, which is home to many oil companies and has the most refining capacity in the country.

Trump said American companies could tap into Venezuela’s oil resources as his administration works to increase the country’s oil exports to the United States. Trump plans to meet with top oil executives on Friday.

Houston is known as the energy capital of the world. But the impacts could reach other parts of Texas – from the Permian Basin to cities with refineries along the Gulf Coast.

“Texas is well positioned to continue to be the dominant leader that we are in the United States and the world,” Texas Oil & Gas Association president Todd Staples said.

Staples said Texas remains a competitive source of oil production even if Venezuela builds up its oil infrastructure.

That’s in part due to the differences between Texas and Venezuelan oil. While Texas produces light sweet oil, Venezuela is known for its heavy crude.

“Immediately, I think Texas refiners can benefit from the existing production because of the heavy crude that’s produced in Venezuela that’s not produced in Texas,” Staples said.

Rice University professor Mark Jones agrees that refineries in Texas and beyond could benefit.

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“Many of the refineries on the Gulf Coast, from Corpus Christi to Lake Charles, were initially designed to refine heavy crude that comes from Venezuela,” he said.

But he said the Permian Basin in West Texas could see a slight negative impact from an increase in Venezuelan oil exports to the United States.

“Where the Permian and Texas more generally will be adversely affected is simply if this drives down overall prices,” he said.

Jones said both oil producers and oil service companies, which manufacture and repair equipment used for oil extraction and transportation, could benefit…