Elections in Venezuela are the riskiest for the oil market

Venezuela's elections are the riskiest of a series of polls that could affect the oil market this year, said Ed Morse, Global Head of Commodities Research at Citigroup, and a former State Department energy policy adviser.

"The market has not absorbed the impact of (President Hugo) Chávez's disease in the upcoming election. Nobody knows how ill he is, or whether he could die," Morse told Reuters, after a presentation he made to a group of clients.

Chávez underwent surgery in June 2011, when a malignant tumor was surgically removed from his pelvic region.

Venezuela, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) whose exports amount to nearly 1.8 million barrels per day, according to Morse, will hold presidential elections on October 7.

Morse believes that political actions taken before elections this year in the United States, Iran and Russia are provoking fluctuations in oil prices. "Mandatory sanctions against companies trading with Iran, which are beginning to work, according to US Senate and House of Representatives members, are leading to an escalating tension and the market is tighter than expected," Morse said.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas