Trump admin sends tough private (and transactional) message to oil companies on Venezuela

[Eugene]

Source: Politico

Trump admin sends tough private message to oil companies on Venezuela

The White House has told companies they must rebuild Venezuela's crude-pumping infrastructure if they want compensation for assets seized by Caracas.

By Ben Lefebvre, Zack Colman and James Bikales
01/03/2026 02:35 PM EST

American oil companies have long hoped to recover the assets that Venezuela’s authoritarian regime ripped from them decades ago.

Now the Trump administration is offering to help them achieve that aim — with one major condition.

Administration officials have told oil executives in recent weeks that if they want compensation for their rigs, pipelines and other seized property, then they must be prepared to go back into Venezuela now and invest heavily in reviving its shattered petroleum industry, two people familiar with the administration’s outreach told POLITICO on Saturday. The outlook for Venezuela’s shattered oil infrastructure is one of the major questions following the U.S. military action that captured leader Nicolás Maduro.

But people in the industry said the administration’s message has left them still leery about the difficulty of rebuilding decayed oil fields in a country where it’s not even clear who will lead the country for the foreseeable future.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/03/trump-venezuela-oil-us-companies-return-00709782

[marble falls]

1. But don't ever say it out loud: over twenty years of US sanctions on Venezuela brought their oil industry down.

[sop]

3. That can't be said enough times.

[sop]

2. "It's not even clear who will lead the country for the foreseeable future"?

Trump said the U.S. was going to "run the country," that it was part of an overall strategy of U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere, and American companies would soon start selling the country's vast oil reserves. Sounds like oil companies will get the assurances their stockholders require before "investing heavily in reviving its shattered petroleum industry."

[marble falls]

4. He even ignores the Venezuelan Constitution.

[stopdiggin]

5. not sustainable. and that's the catch.

is the country that "does not want to be policeman to the world" - going to be 'protecting your assets' - 20 years on down the road?

Winning hearts and minds ... Almost always working out in the end ...

[Irish_Dem]

6. Trump will force companies to make a bad business decision.

And they will have to pay him for the pleasure of screwing themselves.

Trump does nothing unless it benefits him personally.

[duckworth969]

7. Only way to secure those oilfields

is to have boots on the ground.

[Irish_Dem]

8. Trump would love to have the taxpayers foot the bill for his new business venture.

South American oil fields guarded by US Army and Marines.

[AnnaLee]

9. Dear companies,

When you bribe a narcissist sociopath, be prepared to get exactly what you bought even if it wasn't what you thought you asked for.

[snot]

10. Cry me a river.

So tough! Oil cos. having to pay to develop the resources they'll exploit!

Seriously, I only hope they're right to worry that Maduro's replacement might not cooperate, but I'll be very surprised if we allow that to happen.