Venezuelan oil

Apropos our discussion in class on Venezuela, my student Sara asked me about Venezuelan oil. This got me thinking—way back in February, Hugo Chávez threatened to cut off oil exports to the U.S. Although he’s been talking oil deals with China and Iran, he hasn’t said any more about that, or at least not that I’ve seen. There was much talk about reducing our dependence on Venezuelan oil, but I wonder whether that has indeed happened. I'd even wager that the same people who decry Chávez's speech to the UN then unknowingly pull into Citgo and fill 'er up.