The bond market is in open revolt as Trump declines to accept an Iranian peace deal and oil hits $92 a barrel

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Venezuela oil pact ‘looks like an insider deal.’

Iran again offers Trump the deal he wants but the president wants to ‘hit them hard’ instead.

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Venezuela oil pact ‘looks like an insider deal’ for those close to Delcy and Trump, expert says

President Trump’s plan for the U.S. to own majority control of Venezuelan oilfields harks back to a century-old era of colonialism and backroom dealmaking with Venezuelan oilmen and politicians, energy and geopolitical analysts told Fortune’s Jordan Blum.

“If the U.S. scheme in Venezuela sounds colonial, that’s because it is,” said Gregory Brew, senior analyst with the Eurasia Group. “This is the Trump administration trying to increase U.S. revenue from Venezuelan oil production. It’s extremely unusual. It’s probably unprecedented in the history of the international oil industry.”

Under the deal, the U.S. would control more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela.

The agreement would give the U.S. Department of Defense a 55% stake in the private Venezuelan oil producer North American Blue Energy Partners. NABEP is controlled by the Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt López and his family. López has fostered close relationships with both the Trump and Rodríguez administrations.

“From a certain angle, this looks like an insider deal to profit businessmen who are close to Delcy and who are also close to Trump and his inner circle,” Brew told Fortune.

Iran again offers to accept Trump’s deal but the President wants to ‘hit them hard’ instead

The conflict between the U.S. and Iran has entered a surreal new phase in which Iran is offering to accept the deal based on the “memorandum of understanding” first offered by the White House in June, but President Trump shows no signs of wanting to take the deal. 

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was prepared to reciprocate if the U.S. honored its commitments under the MOU, according to Al Jazeera. Iran made a similar offer—to accept the MOU—on August 26. 

The MOU technically expired on August 17. The MOU proposes an end to all hostilities, an end to sanctions, and $300 billion in reparations. It also requires Iran to “not procure or develop nuclear weapons” but it allows for “enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of........

© Fortune