Trump administration sets meetings with oil companies over Venezuela, source says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

January 6, 2026 8:58 AM EST Updated 9 mins ago


WASHINGTON/HOUSTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - (This Jan 5 story has been corrected to say that Venezuela is a current, not former, OPEC member nation in paragraph 5) The administration of President Donald Trump is planning to meet with executives from U.S. oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production after U.S. forces ousted its leader Nicolas Maduro, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The meetings are crucial to the administration's hopes of getting top U.S. oil companies back into the South American nation after its government, nearly two decades ago, took control of U.S.-led energy operations there.

The three biggest U.S. oil companies - Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), ConocoPhillips (COP.N), and Chevron (CVX.N) - have not yet had any conversations with the administration about Maduro's ouster, according to four oil industry executives familiar with the matter, contradicting Trump's statements over the weekend that he had already held meetings with "all" the U.S. oil companies, both before and since Maduro was seized. "Nobody in those three companies has had conversations with the White House about operating in Venezuela, pre-removal or post-removal to this point," one of the sources said on Monday.

The upcoming meetings will be crucial to the administration's hopes to boost crude oil production and exports from Venezuela, an OPEC nation which sits atop the world's largest reserves and whose barrels can be refined by specially designed U.S. refineries. chieving that goal will require years of work and billions of dollars of investment, analysts say.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/trump-administration-has-not-consulted-us-oil-majors-about-venezuela-oil-execs-2026-01-05/

---

Now this happens... after the fact and after 45 was called out.

REFERENCES

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143592245
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143593576
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143593594

[genxlib]

1. My guess

Is that he was meeting with lobbyists.

He is too dumb to know the difference and the oil companies maintain plausible deniability that they orchestrated this.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. The problem still exists

that the market is glutted at the moment due to previous productions increases much of last year, from OPEC and OPEC+, where they finally decided to hold doing any more. Spot WTI is sitting aound $58.65/bbl, which is barely enough for a "breakeven" price for many of these companies.



(from Mar. 2024)

And to try to repair some of the old abandoned wells in Venezuela, will be a hefty cost.

[Irish_Dem]

2. How soon can they steal the oil and Trump gets most of the profits.

Should be an interesting meeting.

[Lonestarblue]

8. I've read a few comments on news articles about how good this will be for Venezuela.

According to commenters, the government will have so much more revenue from higher pil production. Anyone who expects US companies to pay anything for the oil is delusional. Trump will give them the right to recoup infrastructure costs first and maybe in a few years pay Venezuela a few pennies for the oil. The only thing Venezuela is likely to get is a few jobs. Trump’s deals are always zero sum— he wins and everyone else loses.

[Irish_Dem]

9. The US taxpayer will pay for most of the costs.

We will most likely pay for all the oil infrastructure and corporate cost of getting the oil pumping again. We will also pay for all the associated military cost.

This will all run into the billions and billions of dollars.

Trump is living the dream of every mob boss.

The US taxpayer pays him to commit crimes and covers all the costs while he rakes in the profit

[dutch777]

4. They will genuflect and then do nothing. Just like in Iraq. Of course Donnie will declare victory.

Plus last thing the oil companies want to see is a bunch of new oil hitting the market when the price per barrel of oil is already low. $60 per barrel or lower is when many companies' wells start becoming unprofitable. Price has already been hovering around $58/barrel. On top of that, they already have the threat that if Donnie lifts sanctions on Russian oil, they will flood the market too to try and rebuild their economy and their military. Any way you cut this, it has the potential to be very damaging to the status quo and market stability that is in the oil companies' immediate interests.

The other thing Donnie et. al. probably didn't pay attention to is that while Venezuela has 17% of the world's oil reserves, it has only been producing 1% of global supply as the oil fields and related infrastructure have not been maintained under Chavez/Maduro. Fixing that is a huge investment and will take years. Assuming the new Venezuelan regime resists supporting Big Oil or turns into a guerilla movement that sabotages outsiders efforts, this is not a promising place to invest.

[RoseTrellis]

5. A lot to unpack here.

Many good points.
Pretty sure it’s common knowledge that it will take billions of dollars and years of work to increase the output of the 2 main VZ oil fields. Expect a sweetheart deal for the oil companies to go in from the administration.
That oil is going to get pumped regardless of who it goes to, and every gallon that goes to the US is one less gallon that China gets, or goes to Russia to fund their war machine, which isn’t a bad thing.
If VZ is able to get out of their current dictatorship and get a democracy going again, they need to get a deal that is advantages to their needs. If that can happen, why shouldn’t they get top dollar for their resources? And what basis would a guerilla have then to oppose it?

Edit—-right on cue!
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143593576

[dutch777]

11. It could go a lot of different ways. Lots of X factors in the equation.

You are right, anyone who did their homework knows getting increased production from VZ fields is not as simple as opening a valve.

Where it gets dicey is what all the OTHER oil players do regarding production increases/price lowering and that is even more dynamic if Russia has the sanctions pulled. While China has interest in VZ oil, it is like all its other key resource interests, they like to have a wide range of suppliers to choose from so they don't get in the position we are on rare earth minerals-- just one or two suppliers who can get uppity. And they like to have right of first refusal and will pay a signing bonus for that contractual position. They have an inside track on RU oil now and will likely maintain that, if they want, if RU has sanctions lifted or not. At that point China may shop by price but likelihood they will have a supply problem short of us embargoing/sanctioning them is slim. They have more free cash than anyone in the game and as they are showing in silver and other strategic metals price is rarely a deterrent for them.

As to a potential guerrilla problem, it depends on how the US "running VZ" rolls out. If they can be largely self managing politically and get most of the profits from the oil sold then there could well be no issue assuming their economy gets back on track and sanctions are lifted. If Donnie gets heavy handed and overly greedy then it is going to feel like Colonialism 2.0 (or maybe 3.0) and that could lead to issues.

[Irish_Dem]

10. Trump could care less how long it takes to get the oil

Trump is just going to sell the rights to the oil.

Once he does his smash and grab, and makes as much money as possible he’s done and dusted with it. Not his problem and any bills and costs he’ll just pass onto the US taxpayer.

This little caper is gonna cost the US billions and billions of dollars.

[ChicagoTeamster]

6. Paul Singer bought CITGO. He's a Trump megadonor. CITGO is the US arm of Venezuela's PDVSA oil company.

This is a guy who buys distressed businesses and debt. Through his firm Elliott Management, Singer infamously engages in buying distressed sovereign debt, including from African nations like the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), purchasing debt at deep discounts and then aggressively pursuing full repayment through litigation, a strategy known as "vulture fund" investing that brought him significant profits from countries like Peru, Congo, and Argentina.

He's heavily invested in Trump. Just like Musk (financed by Peter Thiel) picked Trump's VP Vance and donated hundreds of millions to Trump's campaign and in return got to run DOGE and get contracts for Starlink, and SpaceX, and almost sold Cybertrucks to the US government, Singer is getting a return on his investment.

Maybe CITGO should get the Tesla treatment. And so should everything else he owns.

[Linda ladeewolf]

7. The guardian has an article

Where trump says the US taxpayers could reimburse the oil companies. Here we go again. Taking the money from the bottom and giving it to the useless parasites at the top.
Edited to add link

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/06/trump-us-taxpayers-oil-firms-venezuela-investment