Energy Secretary Chris Wright says a 30-minute military operation unlocked 65 billion Venezuelan barrels for American buyers, who marked the windfall by paying a record $4.15 a gallon over Labor Day.

…(cont) By Friday, September 4, Energy Secretary Chris Wright was on a flight from Caracas to Washington explaining to the Washington Examiner how U.S. companies would swap newly sourced Venezuelan heavy crude for U.S. light and medium crude better suited to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That is a supply story. The opposite of a shortage. That same Friday the national diesel average hit $5.85, an all-time high, passing the $5.81 record set in May 2022 — different war, same pump, which is — those are separate markets. Mostly separate.

On Sunday, September 6, Wright told ABC News the United States has "a lot of leverage over Venezuela. We control the sale of oil outside," describing the deal The Hill reported grants Washington control of more than 65 billion barrels. Common Dreams reported he denied the administration was stealing Venezuela's oil one hour after saying the country is "forced to work" with the United States. Both statements hold. Leverage is what you have when the other side is forced to — when the other side elects to partner. Partner. That same Sunday, Rep. Mike Lawler told CNN, "Any time you are at war or in a military escalation, it is certainly not small potatoes. It is serious. I think we all recognize that," two days after the President declined to call the Iran conflict a war and called it "small potatoes for us."

Markets agreed, in their way. That Sunday OPEC Plus held production steady, Brent rose about 1 percent, and the national gas average sat near $4.15. On Monday, September 7, AAA put regular gasoline at $4.15, the highest it has ever been on the holiday; ABC News reported $4.14. The New York Times reported the same day that some drivers are using "special techniques to maximize their miles per gallon." Call that consumer adaptation. That is a market working.

Monday, September 7 also carried the rest of it: U.S. forces destroyed three Revolutionary Guard crude oil tankers in the Persian Gulf on Saturday after Iran launched ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy vessels, Iran threatened a "more painful" response, and nearly 5,000 troops aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln began heading home after nearly 300 days deployed. On Tuesday, September 8, oil rose again as a top Iranian official said Tehran would impose an "exclusion zone" outside the Strait of Hormuz.

On Friday, September 11, Fox News reported Wright saying a 30-minute military operation unlocked the Venezuela oil windfall for U.S. buyers, and that the administration is tapping the country's 300 billion barrels of reserves to grow supply and cut prices. Those are not two piles: the 65 billion is the barrels the deal hands Washington control of, the 300 billion is the reserve base Wright says he is drawing on. One country's oil, counted twice in two rooms.

That same Friday, Rubio announced the foreign terrorist designation of Los Tiguerones during his diplomatic tour, bringing the list in Latin America to 21. Workers World reported that on September 3, for the ninth month running, protesters rallied outside Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.

Also that Friday, the New York Post reported that Cilia Flores asked to be released from the Brooklyn jail, citing a heart ailment, while she and her husband await trial on U.S. drug trafficking charges. That is the filing and that is the date.

On Sunday, September 13, the President spoke with the Saudi crown prince and said everything will "work out fine."

Assets: 65 billion barrels, a 35 percent Pentagon stake. Costs, as of Labor Day: $4.15 a gallon, $5.85 for diesel, and one filing from a cell in Brooklyn citing a heart.