Name: U.S. could steer Venezuelan oil away from China: Portfolio Manager
Uploaded: 2026-01-08T04:48:01.833Z
Duration: 4 min 34 s
Description: Derrick Irwin, Portfolio Manager at Allspring Global Investments, suggests that U.S. interest in selling Venezuelan oil may be driven by the desire to keep it away from China.

Derrick Irwin, Portfolio Manager at Allspring Global Investments, suggests that U.S. interest in selling Venezuelan oil may be driven by the desire to keep it away from China.

Caracas

A portfolio manager speaking to CNBC analyzed recent U.S. actions involving the seizure of Russian and Panamanian-flagged tankers and the sale of Venezuelan oil. The manager noted that these developments are unlikely to have a significant impact on global oil prices in the near term, as Venezuela's capacity to increase production remains limited and the market is currently oversupplied.

The discussion also addressed the geopolitical angle, suggesting the U.S. may be seeking to steer Venezuelan oil away from China, Venezuela's largest customer, thereby increasing American influence over global oil flows. The manager added that while these moves may have psychological effects on the market, they are not expected to alter China's strategic decisions regarding Taiwan or broader emerging market dynamics.

U.S. could steer Venezuelan oil away from China: Portfolio Manager

Marty and I are just talking about the energy market and how the market is reacting to this whole Venezuelan developments and the latest being that the u.s. Has seized Russian and Panamanian flagged tankers Do you see material takeaways from these developments for energy markets going forward in 2026? Well, I think the the Venezuelan situation here probably will not have a material impact on oil prices in the near term And I think that's been well discussed in a lot of media media outlets, but I think that It's going to take a while for any Oil to ramp up and we listened to Chris right this morning at the Goldman Sachs Conference and he was talking about an extra 1,700 thousand barrels a day over the medium term So in terms of Venezuela's ability to produce and add more oil into the global system It's pretty limited in the near to medium term. So I don't think there's much risk there Obviously, we've got now the u.s. That will sell what 30 to 50 million barrels Which even then in the context of a market that is over supplied? Isn't that much and there may be geopolitical angle to that more than anything else? So I think that in the near term, it's hard to see how Venezuela and and the blockade Will alter the course of oil prices Yeah, that does seem to be the consensus Derek that the Venezuelan development doesn't really move the needle near term and let's see how It actually unfolds. But what if the oil market is ready to really? sort of trade on Psychological factors instead of a supply demand fundamentals perhaps the market could be reading this as a very bold American move that could sort of unsettle markets even if the actual Near-term risk is on the debate. I Think that is a really interesting question and you make it you make a great point It may well be that the market views this as the United States and specifically the government United States Tightening its grip on the global oil market I would suggest that this recent move by the US government to to sell Venezuelan oil Is as much about keeping oil flowing in Venezuela as it is about Maybe steering that oil away from China. You know, China's Venezuela's largest customer Its refineries can take that heavy crude and all of a sudden they're being denied that supply in the US will get a much More input into where that crude goes, which will probably be US refineries. So it's a great point. It may well be psychologically That we see a more of a stranglehold by the US on oil supplies And that may that may drive pricing up a bit Mmm, and it was interesting how the Venezuelan development draw drew a lot of questions regarding Taiwan It's a strategic positioning China's potential move No move move on Taiwan. Does that really did it change? Anything in terms of your calls your portfolios regarding EM markets like Taiwan Look, I think the relationship between Taiwan and China is probably the most important thing that we have to consider as emerging market Investors, but in this case, it's probably fairly limited I think China will do what China does on its own timescale. They view Taiwan as you know as an internal matter To the extent that this gives them a little firepower from a propaganda standpoint That's one thing but I think in terms of timing on any move to to reintegrate Taiwan I don't really think it changes anything I think Taiwan is excuse me China is really making more of a internal and a military and strategic calculation Rather than taking cues from what the u.s. Is doing the one thing I would say is I do think that we are seeing a more Split into a bipolar world a g2 world as they call it and we may start to see China Behaving more aggressively in its sphere of influence, even if it's not Taiwan yet So it will change the calculus but in terms of the big question around Taiwan I think they're going to do what they do on their own timescale

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