Oil has made waves again. In the week of October 18–24, 2026, Venezuela’s oil basket closed at $89.56 per barrel, a level not seen since 2014, according to the Oil and Energy Report by experts Juan Szabo and Luis Pacheco. The push came from abroad: Brent climbed to $116.72 and WTI closed at $103.27, both posting weekly gains not seen since the beginning of the year.
For people living in Venezuela and trading crypto, the obvious question is a different one: does an expensive barrel translate into a cheaper dollar on P2P platforms? The short answer is “not necessarily.” We break down the longer answer below.