US President Trump Eyes Venezuela’s Oil After Capturing Maduro
- The US president has announced intentions to develop Venezuela’s oil reserves after seizing President Maduro
- He said US companies will fix Venezuela's oil infrastructure and start making money for the country
- However, experts warned of challenges with President Donald Trump's plan, saying it would cost billions and take up to a decade to materialise
Legit.ng's Muslim Muhammad Yusuf is a 2025 Wole Soyinka Award-winning journalist with over 8 years of experience in investigative reporting, human rights, politics, governance and accountability in Nigeria.
Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, US President Donald Trump has indicated plans to tap into Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, promising American oil companies a role in rebuilding the country’s energy infrastructure.
Trump said the US would run the country until a safe political transition and described Venezuela’s oil infrastructure as “badly broken.”
Source: Getty Images
Trump reportedly wants US firms to invest billions to extract and refine Venezuela’s oil, aiming to turn the resource into a revenue stream for both the country and international investors.
“We’re going to start making money for the country,” he said.
The US military carried out a series of air strikes on Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, early on Saturday. Maduro and his wife were captured and flown to New York City, where they face drug pushing and weapons charges.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” Trump told a news conference in Florida.
Trump also said that “the embargo on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect.” Washington imposed economic sanctions on Venezuela in 2017, followed by oil sanctions two years later.
As reported by AFP, Venezuela produces just under a million barrels of crude a day, according to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and sells most of it on the black market at steep discounts.
Read also
Analyst who predicted Trump will remove the president of Venezuela speaks after it happened
Trump claims Caracas is using oil money to finance “drug terrorism, murder and kidnapping.”
At the start of his second term in 2025, he ended licenses that had allowed multinational oil and gas companies to operate in Venezuela despite the sanctions, with US company Chevron the only one to receive an exemption.
Venezuela’s oil potential
According to BBC, Venezuela holds an estimated 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the largest in the world. Despite this, the country’s current oil production is a fraction of its capacity.
Output has fallen sharply since the early 2000s, as state control over PDVSA, the national oil company, tightened under Hugo Chavez and Maduro. Experienced staff left, and foreign investment dwindled amid US sanctions first imposed in 2015.
As of November 2025, Venezuela produced approximately 860,000 barrels per day, less than a third of its output a decade ago, and under 1% of global oil consumption.
Source: Getty Images
Most of the reserves are “heavy, sour” crude, which is more difficult and costly to refine than the “light, sweet” oil typically produced in the US.
US authorities have also seized two Venezuelan tankers and imposed a blockade to control sanctioned oil exports.
Will Trump's plan work?
Experts warn that any attempt to exploit Venezuelan oil requires formal agreements with a legitimate government, meaning US firms would have to wait until Maduro’s successor assumes power.
Even then, companies would face political risk, potential instability, and the high cost of infrastructure rehabilitation.
“Even if the political situation is stable, it’s a process that takes months,” said Homayoun Falakshahi, senior commodity analyst at Kpler.
He added that tens of billions of dollars and potentially a decade would be needed to restore Venezuela’s former output.
Neil Shearing, chief economist at Capital Economics, said Trump’s plans would likely have minimal impact on global oil prices in the near term.
“There are enormous hurdles and a long timeframe. Firms will not invest until a stable government is in place, and the projects will not deliver for many years,” he said.
Oil companies’ stance
Chevron is the only US company currently operating in Venezuela under a license granted in 2022, producing around a fifth of the country’s oil. The company has stated it is focused on employee safety and compliance with laws.
Other major oil firms have remained publicly silent. Analysts suggest internal discussions are ongoing, weighing political uncertainty against the scale of the potential opportunity.
“The potential prize may be deemed too big to avoid,” said Falakshahi.
Even if Venezuela returned to pre-crisis production levels of about 3 million barrels per day, it would remain outside the world’s top 10 oil producers.
With high output from OPEC+ countries and no immediate global shortage, analysts caution that the US plan is unlikely to influence global prices in the short term, making it a long-term, high-risk venture.
Trump threatens another president
Legit.ng earlier reported that United States President Donald Trump escalated tensions in Latin America with a direct threat to Colombian leader Gustavo Petro, following a dramatic U.S. military raid in Venezuela.
The operation saw Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro captured and flown to New York to face narco-terrorism charges.
However, Colombia responded with sharp criticism and plans to reinforce its border as Trump stood by his explosive accusations.
Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
