With Venezuela and Iran reshaping global oil markets, U.S. president is changing the energy order — and Canada may be left behind.

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WASHINGTON — Donald Trump appears to be trying to change the global order one barrel of oil at a time. With Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro out, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei possibly out next, China must be getting nervous, and Cuba is trying to deny reality.

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All of this, of course, leaves Canada wondering what will come next and what all of these changes will mean for our own oil industry.

Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves; their more than 300 billion barrels are almost double Canada’s and Iran’s reserves — depending on the source — are either just a bit bigger or just a bit smaller than ours. If the dictatorship in Tehran falls, that would see a country with either the third or fourth largest oil reserves in the world hitting the open market once again.

Both Iranian and Venezuelan oil have been subject to substantial sanctions on and off for years, escalating during President Trump’s first term in office and remaining in place since then.

Despite the sanctions, Iran was still a top ten producer in 2023 according to the