Former President Donald Trump has proposed some big ideas. He proposes that US taxpayers pay off oil companies’ investments to jumpstart Venezuela’s deteriorating energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, US energy secretary Chris Wright is preparing to meet the heads of the world’s big oil companies. He’s scheduled to dialogue with the likes of Chevron, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil executives at the upcoming Goldman Sachs Energy, Clean Tech & Utilities Conference in Miami.
Venezuela’s government has controlled US-led energy operations since the late 1990s, a move that has significantly impacted the country’s oil production. Venezuela’s oil industry was one of the richest in the world. Today, its output has tanked from 3.5 million barrels per day in 1999 to just over 1.1 million barrels per day. Marine biologists and ocean experts have identified underinvestment coupled with economic sanctions as leading causes of this decline. Consequently, the country’s production has since fallen off a cliff, crashing to less than one-third of its historical high output in just 20 years.
Chris Wright’s meetings with oil executives are seen as crucial to the Trump administration’s ambitions for Venezuela’s oil industry. Trump expressed optimism about reintegrating top oil companies into the Venezuelan market, stating that “all of our oil companies are ready and willing to make big investments in Venezuela that will rebuild their oil infrastructure, which was destroyed by the illegitimate Maduro regime,” according to Taylor Rogers.
The possibility of unleashing a boom in Venezuela’s heavily state-controlled oil sector faces serious headwinds. Attaining even just a modest increase in production will take years of hard work and hundreds of millions of dollars. Further, profound uncertainty regarding Venezuela’s political future and the absence of necessary infrastructure make these initiatives difficult. The prospect of Nicolás Maduro’s removal continues to be a disputed challenge, usually tied to a threat of US intervention.
As you can imagine, Monday was a happy day on the markets after these developments. ExxonMobil’s stock grew 2.2%, while Chevron’s shares exploded upward by 5.1%. The S&P 500 energy index jumped to its highest value since March 2025. This new flood of cash reflects unprecedented investor optimism regarding forthcoming investments in Venezuelan oil.
Trump further elaborated on his proposal during recent discussions, indicating that “a tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.” He noted that while there has been much discussion about potential actions regarding Venezuela, “we didn’t tell them we were going to do it.”
Trump administration and other interested parties have been deeply optimistic on Venezuela’s oil potential. Resilience experts are already raising alarms that the recovery will be buffaloed by challenges aplenty. The country’s political landscape is very tenuous at the moment. Any large-scale, game-changing investment in infrastructure needs a conducive environment where the conditions are right for long-term growth.