Trump promises that the US will return to Venezuela’s oil industry after the capture of Maduro
President Donald Trump opens up about the US capture of Venezuelan dictator Maduro on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend.’
The president Donald Trump has promised to return the US to Venezuela’s oil industry following the impeachment of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro early, accusing the country’s socialist government of seizing American assets and destroying an industry built with American investment.
“We built the Venezuelan oil industry with American talent, drive and skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us,” Trump said during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Venezuela has seized and sold American oil, American goods and American platforms, costing billions and billions of dollars,” he added. “They took all our property.”
FOLLOW FOX NEWS LIVE FROM VENEZUELA
President Donald Trump has said that US energy companies will return to Venezuela to rebuild the country’s oil industry. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Trump said that American energy companies can play a major role in rebuilding the country’s oil sector.
“We will make our largest oil companies in the United States come in, spend billions of dollars, fix the broken oil infrastructure and start making money for the country,” he said.
Once home to the largest US energy investment, Venezuela systematically expelled Western oil companies under a campaign to nationalize the country established by Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez. Although Maduro claims he won re-election for a six-year term in 2024, US and other international observers say his loyalists stole the election from Edmundo González.
Chevron was among the few strength the titans negotiated a stay, agreeing to operate as minority partners under a partnership led by the state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA), rather than exiting the country entirely.
It is now the only US oil company left operating in it in VenezuelaChevron finds itself navigating a tightrope between Washington’s takeover of Caracas and the world’s largest oil reserves.
VENEZUELA HOLDS THE BIGGEST OIL OILS IN THE COUNTRY. HERE’S HOW SOME
“Chevron remains focused on the safety and well-being of our employees, and the integrity of our assets,” a Chevron spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The company declined to comment on the broader security situation, saying only: “We continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.”
Chevron said in a statement to Fox News Digital that its operations in Venezuela are continuing without interruption. (Photos by Brandon Bell / Getty Images)
Chevron has operated in Venezuela for nearly a century, but its ability to produce and export oil has been shaped in recent years by US sanctions and limited-term Treasury licenses that restrict its operations.
About twice the size of California, Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves. At an estimated 300 billion barrels — about 20 percent of the world’s total and about four times the U.S. reserves — that amount exceeds that of any other nation.
Yet its troubled economy and persistent political instability have greatly reduced its ability to transform those reserves into sustainable, flexible production and is evident in countries like Iran and Libya, where chaos, sanctions and crumbling infrastructure hamper production despite vast resource wealth.
CLICK HERE FOR FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO
Oil pumping station and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (Reuters:AP)
Asked by Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson at Mar-a-Lago about the interest of countries such as Iran, Russia and China in Venezuelan oil, Trump said the United States would sell Venezuelan oil to various countries.
As the United States weighs its next steps, Venezuela’s oil reserves remain both a prize and a conundrum — large on average, but locked up after years of underinvestment, crumbling infrastructure and political risk that would require billions of dollars and continued stabilization to overcome.
