President Donald
Trump said that American oil companies were prepared to enter
Venezuela and invest to restore production in the South American
country, an announcement that came just hours after Nicolás
Maduro was captured and removed by U.S. forces.
“We’re going to have our very large U.S. oil companies, the
biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars,
fix the badly broken infrastructure, oil infrastructure, and
start making money for the country,” Trump said on Saturday.
While Chevron is the only American major with current
operations in Venezuela, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips
, among others, have storied histories in the country.
“We’re closely watching developments involving Venezuela,
including the potential implications for global energy markets,”
an API spokesperson told Reuters.
Chevron, which exports around 150,000 bpd of crude from
Venezuela to the U.S. Gulf Coast, said it is focused on the
safety and wellbeing of its employees, in addition to the
integrity of its assets.
“
Trump’s plans to have large U.S. oil companies enter
Venezuela and get “oil flowing” will be hindered by lack of
infrastructure that will require many years and heavy
investment, analysts said. “There are still many questions that
need to be answered about the state of the Venezuelan oil
industry, but it is clear that it will take tens of billions of
dollars to turn that industry around,” said Peter McNally,
Global Head of Sector Analysts at Third Bridge, adding that it
could take at least a decade of Western oil majors committing to
the country.
A U.S. embargo on all Venezuelan oil, meanwhile, remains in
full effect, Trump said. He told reporters that the U.S.
military forces would remain in position until U.S. demands had
been fully met.
“The American armada remains poised in position, and the
U.S. retains all military options until United States demands
have been fully met and fully satisfied,” he said.
Published on January 4, 2026
