Across 12 clues 1. US elections held two years into a presidency, due this November (8) 5. Venezuelan lake at the centre of the country's oil industry (9) 7. Pipeline from Alberta to Nebraska that was cancelled in 2021 (8,2) 8. Pipeline that is Canada's only oil route to the Pacific, expanded in 2024 (5,8) 10. Word for ocean access where oil can be loaded onto tankers (9) 16. Surname of the Venezuelan president who took over foreign oil projects in 2007 (6) 17. Venezuelan river and oil region known for heavy crude (7) 20. Oklahoma town where the main US oil price benchmark is delivered (7) 21. Illinois town at the northern end of a pipeline that now flows south (6) 22. Alberta town where the price of Canada's heavy oil is set (8) 23. BC city where Canada's Pacific oil pipeline ends at a tanker terminal (7) 24. Rock type that made the US the world's top oil producer (5)
Down 12 clues 2. American oil company that Venezuelan governments forced out twice (10) 3. US region whose refineries import only Canadian crude (7) 4. Strait near Iran that carried about a fifth of the world's oil (6) 6. Surname of Delcy, the Venezuelan interim leader (9) 9. Short name for the Venezuelan state-owned oil company (5) 11. Indiana town near Chicago with a refinery that runs on Alberta oil (7) 12. Short name for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, founded 1960 (4) 13. Country where the US just took majority control of 65 billion barrels (9) 14. Nickname for the Canadian dollar, which tends to rise and fall with oil (6) 15. US refining company, once Venezuelan-owned, that a court auctioned off (5) 18. US oil route from Louisiana to Illinois, reversed to flow south in 2021 (7) 19. Surname of the Venezuelan leader captured by US forces on January 3 (6)
