US President Donald Trump on Saturday said his administration would permit American oil companies to enter Venezuela to tap its vast crude reserves following a US military operation that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump spoke after the US military carried out a series of air strikes on Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, early Saturday. According to US officials, Maduro and his wife were seized during the operation and flown to New York, where they are expected to face charges related to drug trafficking and weapons offences.
Addressing a news conference in Florida, Trump said major US oil firms would invest heavily in Venezuela’s energy sector. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies—the biggest anywhere in the world—go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” he said.
However, Trump stressed that Washington’s embargo on Venezuelan oil remains in force, despite the proposed involvement of American companies.
The United States imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Venezuela in 2017, followed by oil sanctions in 2019, sharply restricting the country’s access to global markets. Venezuela currently produces just under one million barrels of crude per day, according to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with much of its output reportedly sold on the black market at steep discounts.
Trump accused authorities in Caracas of using oil revenues to fund “drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping.”
At the start of his second term in 2025, Trump revoked licences that had allowed several multinational oil and gas companies to operate in Venezuela despite sanctions, leaving Chevron as the sole US firm with a limited exemption. Chevron operates four oil fields in partnership with state-owned PDVSA.
Washington has also enforced a total blockade on tankers linked to Venezuelan crude exports.
Venezuela holds an estimated 17 per cent of the world’s proven oil reserves, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), but years of mismanagement and corruption have left the sector in decline. The country’s heavy crude is largely refined into diesel and industrial by-products, rather than gasoline, though several US Gulf Coast refineries are configured to process it.
Energy analysts note that US policy toward Venezuelan oil is driven more by politics than supply needs. “The United States is doing just fine without Venezuelan oil,” Stephen Schork of the Schork Group said recently.
International reactions continue to mount, with several countries condemning the US operation and Venezuela’s Supreme Court appointing Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as acting president.