Donald Trump has claimed that Venezuela will “turn over” between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States following a US-backed operation that removed President Nicolás Maduro from power.
Posting on social media, the US president said the oil — worth an estimated $2.8bn (£2.1bn) at current market prices, would be sold by the US, with proceeds controlled by him and used “to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States”.
The remarks came days after Maduro was flown to the US to face long-standing charges related to drug trafficking and weapons offences, and after Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president.
Trump also said he expected US oil companies to be “up and running” in Venezuela within 18 months, adding that large-scale American investment would soon flow into the country.
However, energy analysts have poured cold water on the timetable, warning that restoring Venezuela’s oil industry would require tens of billions of dollars and could take a decade or more.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at more than 300 billion barrels, but output has been in long-term decline since the early 2000s due to underinvestment, mismanagement and international sanctions. Its heavy crude is also costly and complex to refine, limiting the number of facilities able to process it.
China, currently the largest buyer of Venezuelan oil, condemned Trump’s comments, describing them as a violation of international law and an infringement of Venezuelan sovereignty. Beijing also criticised reports that Washington is pressing Caracas to sever economic ties with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba in exchange for US investment.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said cooperation between China and Venezuela was “between two sovereign states” and must be protected under international law.
According to reports by US media, Trump has pushed for an exclusive oil partnership between Washington and Caracas. On Truth Social, he said the oil would be sold at market prices but that the revenue would be overseen directly by the US administration.
Trump argued that increased Venezuelan oil production would help keep global prices down, saying it was “good for the United States” to bring the country back as a major supplier.
Yet US oil majors have been cautious. Chevron, currently the only American oil company operating in Venezuela under a limited licence, said it remained focused on employee safety and regulatory compliance. ConocoPhillips, which exited Venezuela years ago following nationalisation, said it was monitoring developments but that it would be “premature to speculate” on future investments.
Exxon declined to comment.
Venezuela nationalised its oil industry in 1976 and increased state control over foreign-owned assets in 2007 under Hugo Chávez. In 2019, a World Bank tribunal ordered Venezuela to pay ConocoPhillips $8.7bn in compensation for expropriated assets — a sum that remains unpaid.
While Trump and US officials have claimed that Venezuela “stole” American oil, legal experts note that natural resources are owned by sovereign states under international law. US companies historically operated under licence agreements rather than owning the oil itself.
With Venezuela’s infrastructure degraded, sanctions still in flux and political uncertainty high, analysts warn that any meaningful increase in production — and any impact on global oil prices — is unlikely in the near term.
