GAO warns U.S. vulnerable to oil cutoff

Venezuelan embargo would cause oil prices to jump, report says

WASHINGTON – Tight oil markets and little spare production capacity worldwide make the United States more vulnerable today to a cutoff of Venezuelan oil than three years ago when a strike curtailed Venezuelan supplies, a congressional study warns.

The report by the Government Accountability Office says a Venezuelan oil embargo against the United States would cause oil prices immediately to jump by $4 to $6 a barrel and increase gasoline prices at the pump by 11 to 15 cents a gallon.

A six-month loss of 2.2 million barrels a day of Venezuelan production