WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Declining gasoline prices have taken some of the punch out of the political stump speech that revolves around U.S. oil independence, observers said.

MIAMI, June 18 (UPI) -- A consortium of Brazilian and foreign oil companies has discovered yet another oil field off the coast of South America's largest country, adding to the already multibillion-barrel reserves found in Brazilian waters in recent years.

MIAMI, June 4 (UPI) -- Brazil's oil bounty apparently continues to grow with the discovery of a new deposit of sweet crude off the coast of Sao Paulo state, according to energy officials.

MIAMI, May 21 (UPI) -- Following the discovery of a U.S. Navy fighter in Venezuelan airspace, President Hugo Chavez warned that oil prices could reach $500 a barrel were the United States to attack Venezuela.

MIAMI, April 23 (UPI) -- Energy officials from Iran said they were ready to make good on promises to bolster energy ties with Venezuela by establishing a joint Tehran-Caracas oil company, a concept considered far-fetched by some considering the rash of projects proposed by the two nations that have yet to come to fruition.

MIAMI, March 19 (UPI) -- Two U.S. representatives from Florida introduced legislation seeking to designate Venezuela a state sponsor of terror, a move that could hurt the country's oil sector and U.S. relations in the region.

MIAMI, March 12 (UPI) -- U.S. sanctions against Venezuela over its alleged support of a leftist Colombian rebel group would cripple its oil industry and cause a worldwide spike in already record-high oil prices, experts say.

MIAMI, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Oil production in Cuba has fallen steadily over the last half decade from a production high of nearly 65,000 barrels per day in 2003, according to energy experts on the subject.

MIAMI, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- With Fidel Castro deciding to not pursue another term in office, Cuba will become the focus of a regional tug-of-war over its oil and ethanol sectors, experts say.