Trump targets Venezuelan oil

Posted: 9th January 2026

Last weekend’s dramatic capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by US forces has positioned Venezuela’s vast oil reserves at the heart of Washington’s strategy. President Trump announced this week that Venezuela “will be turning over” up to 50m barrels of oil to the US, urging American oil companies to invest billions in repairing the country’s crumbling infrastructure and boost oil production, suggesting taxpayers could reimburse those costs.

Venezuela’s oil industry has long inflicted a heavy environmental toll (£). Its extra-heavy crude is highly carbon-intensive, and the New York Times reports that underinvestment and mismanagement have resulted in frequent oil spills, widespread gas flaring, and deforestation at some of the fastest rates in the tropics. Experts warn that increasing production could worsen these impacts.

When asked this week how long the administration will demand oversight (£) of Venezuela, Trump said “only time will tell.”

Some US energy majors may be better positioned than others to take advantage of Trump’s strategy. Chevron, the only US company still operating in Venezuela, could scale production faster than its peers. ExxonMobil, heavily invested in neighboring Guyana, may also benefit from Maduro’s removal. However, none of the US oil majors have yet made any public commitment to invest in Venezuela, and the NYT reports (£) that many US oil executives are reluctant to do so.

Critics condemn the operation as fossil fuel-driven “imperialism”. “The US is treating Venezuela as a resource colony,” said Elizabeth Bast, executive director of Oil Change International.

Meanwhile, Trump has refocused on Greenland, with the White House labeling the Arctic island a “national security priority” and leaving military options on the table. Semi-autonomous under Denmark, Greenland holds vast untapped reserves of rare earths and other critical minerals vital for electronics and batteries.