Former President Trump has been saying that American oil companies are the ones who could fix Venezuela’s broken oil industry. Venezuela has more proven oil than any other country on Earth—a massive 303 billion barrels—but for the last 20-plus years, their production has completely fallen apart.
For the U.S., getting Venezuela pumping a lot of oil again is a tempting idea, but it’s a huge project. It would cost American companies billions, and Venezuelan oil is a thick, sludgy type that’s a pain and expensive to refine. Right now, only one U.S. giant, Chevron, is still operating there. When asked about Trump’s ideas, Chevron played it safe, saying they’re just focused on following the rules and keeping their people safe.
Another big company, ConocoPhillips, pulled out years ago. They said they’re “watching” what happens but that it’s “too early” to talk about going back. ExxonMobil didn’t even comment.
Alongside this, Trump and VP JD Vance have claimed Venezuela “stole” American oil. The full story is more complicated. U.S. companies did work there for decades under agreements. Then, in 1976, Venezuela took full control of its oil industry. In 2007, President Hugo Chávez pushed out the remaining foreign companies from their projects. An international court actually ordered Venezuela to pay ConocoPhillips $8.7 billion for that move—a bill that’s still unpaid.
