By Reuters
January 05, 2026
WASHINGTON/HOUSTON — U.S. President President Donald administration did not initially consult with oil companies Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, or Chevron Corp about Venezuela before or after U.S. forces captured the country’s President Nicolas Maduro, according to four oil industry executives familiar with the matter, but meetings are now planned for later this week.
Trump asserted aboard Air Force One on Sunday that he had spoken to all of the U.S. oil companies “before and after” Maduro’s capture about his plans for investing in the country.
U.S. oil executives are expected to meet with the Trump administration this week, one of the sources said.
“Nobody in those three companies has had conversations with the White House about operating in Venezuela, pre-removal or post-removal to this point,” the source said on Monday.
The early and conflicting accounts demonstrate how it will likely be an uphill battle to revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry. While Trump has said that American oil firms are prepared to invest billions of dollars in the country, only Exxon, ConocoPhillips and Chevron have the scale and capacity to operate its complex oil fields, the source said.
The three other sources also said the three companies had no prior knowledge about the U.S. operation to seize Maduro, and had held no conversations with the Trump administration about investing there as of Sunday.
The sources asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Chevron is the only American major currently operating in Venezuela’s oil fields that produce heavy crude used by U.S. Gulf Coast and other refineries.
Exxon and ConocoPhillips, meanwhile, had storied histories in the country before their projects were nationalized nearly two decades ago by former President Hugo Chavez.
Trump said hours after Maduro’s capture on Saturday that he expects the biggest U.S. oil companies to spend billions of dollars boosting Venezuela’s oil production.
But those plans will be hindered by lack of infrastructure that will require many years and heavy investment, along with deep uncertainty over the country’s political future, legal framework and long-term U.S. policy, the executive said.
“I don’t think you’re going to see any company other than Chevron, who’s already there, you know, commit to developing this resource,” said one of the executives.
Conoco has been seeking billions of dollars in restitution for the takeover of three oil projects in Venezuela under Chavez. Exxon was involved in lengthy arbitration cases against Venezuela after it exited the country in 2007.
Chevron, which exports around 150,000 bpd of crude from Venezuela to the U.S. Gulf Coast, meanwhile, has had to carefully maneuver with the Trump administration in an effort to maintain its presence in the country in recent years.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Sheila Dang; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Anna Driver)
The high cost of recovery: Trump administration demands immediate capital injection from Conoco and Exxon
By Reuters
Updated: January 05, 2026
State of Canada’s oil sector after U.S. takeover of Venezuela
HOUSTON — White House and State Department officials have told U.S. oil executives in recent weeks that they would need to return to Venezuela quickly and invest significant capital in the country to revive the damaged oil industry if they wanted compensation for assets expropriated by Venezuela two decades ago, according to two people familiar with the outreach.
In the 2000s, Venezuela expropriated the assets of some international oil companies that declined to give state-run oil company PDVSA increased operational control, as demanded by late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
U.S. oil major Chevron was among companies that negotiated to stay in the country and form joint ventures with state-run PDVSA, while rivals Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips left and filed for arbitration.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that American companies were prepared to return to Venezuela and spend billions to reactivate the struggling oil sector, just hours after President Nicolás Maduro was captured and removed by U.S. forces.
In the recent U.S. administration discussions with oil executives in the scenario that Maduro was out of power, officials have said that U.S. oil companies would need to front the investment money themselves to rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry. That would be one of the preconditions for them eventually recovering debts from the expropriations.
That would be a costly investment for firms such as ConocoPhillips, the sources said. Conoco for years has tried to recover some US$12 billion from the Chavez-era nationalization of its Venezuela assets. Exxon Mobil also filed international arbitration cases, trying to recover $1.65 billion.
Trump began making public reference to the Venezuelan expropriations when he ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers last month.
Conditions for a return
Whether or not the companies return would depend on how executives, boards and shareholders evaluate the risk of renewed investment in Venezuela, the sources said.
“ConocoPhillips is monitoring developments in Venezuela and their potential implications for global energy supply and stability. It would be premature to speculate on any future business activities or investments,” a company spokesperson said in emailed comments to Reuters on Saturday. The company reiterated the statement on Sunday when asked about discussions with administration officials for this story.
Exxon did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters on Sunday.
Politico first reported on the recent discussions on Saturday.
Even if companies do agree to return to the country, it could be years before there is a meaningful boost to oil output. The South American country has one of the largest estimated reserves in the world, but production has plummeted over past decades amid mismanagement, lack of investment and U.S. sanctions.
Besides uncertainty surrounding the contract framework for any operations there, companies considering a return would also need to deal with security concerns, poor infrastructure, questions about the legality of the U.S. operation to capture Maduro and the possibility of long-term political instability, analysts have told Reuters.
Venezuela, a founding member of OPEC, produced as much as 3.5 million barrels per day in the 1970s, which at the time represented over 7 per cent of global oil output. Production fell below 2 million bpd during the 2010s and averaged around 1.1 million bpd last year, or just one per cent of global production.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Writing by Nathan Crooks. Editing by Simon Webb and Chizu Nomiyama )
By Reuters
Updated: January 05, 2026
State of Canada’s oil sector after U.S. takeover of Venezuela
HOUSTON — White House and State Department officials have told U.S. oil executives in recent weeks that they would need to return to Venezuela quickly and invest significant capital in the country to revive the damaged oil industry if they wanted compensation for assets expropriated by Venezuela two decades ago, according to two people familiar with the outreach.
In the 2000s, Venezuela expropriated the assets of some international oil companies that declined to give state-run oil company PDVSA increased operational control, as demanded by late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
U.S. oil major Chevron was among companies that negotiated to stay in the country and form joint ventures with state-run PDVSA, while rivals Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips left and filed for arbitration.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that American companies were prepared to return to Venezuela and spend billions to reactivate the struggling oil sector, just hours after President Nicolás Maduro was captured and removed by U.S. forces.
In the recent U.S. administration discussions with oil executives in the scenario that Maduro was out of power, officials have said that U.S. oil companies would need to front the investment money themselves to rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry. That would be one of the preconditions for them eventually recovering debts from the expropriations.
That would be a costly investment for firms such as ConocoPhillips, the sources said. Conoco for years has tried to recover some US$12 billion from the Chavez-era nationalization of its Venezuela assets. Exxon Mobil also filed international arbitration cases, trying to recover $1.65 billion.
Trump began making public reference to the Venezuelan expropriations when he ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers last month.
Conditions for a return
Whether or not the companies return would depend on how executives, boards and shareholders evaluate the risk of renewed investment in Venezuela, the sources said.
“ConocoPhillips is monitoring developments in Venezuela and their potential implications for global energy supply and stability. It would be premature to speculate on any future business activities or investments,” a company spokesperson said in emailed comments to Reuters on Saturday. The company reiterated the statement on Sunday when asked about discussions with administration officials for this story.
Exxon did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters on Sunday.
Politico first reported on the recent discussions on Saturday.
Even if companies do agree to return to the country, it could be years before there is a meaningful boost to oil output. The South American country has one of the largest estimated reserves in the world, but production has plummeted over past decades amid mismanagement, lack of investment and U.S. sanctions.
Besides uncertainty surrounding the contract framework for any operations there, companies considering a return would also need to deal with security concerns, poor infrastructure, questions about the legality of the U.S. operation to capture Maduro and the possibility of long-term political instability, analysts have told Reuters.
Venezuela, a founding member of OPEC, produced as much as 3.5 million barrels per day in the 1970s, which at the time represented over 7 per cent of global oil output. Production fell below 2 million bpd during the 2010s and averaged around 1.1 million bpd last year, or just one per cent of global production.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Writing by Nathan Crooks. Editing by Simon Webb and Chizu Nomiyama )
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