Trump’s plan to seize and revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry faces major hurdles

Photo: Oil derricks at Lagunillas, on the Eastern Coast of Lake Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela. Photo credit: Breddyjgalvis via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0, Article by Josh Funk. AP News – January 4, 2026.

President Donald Trump’s plan to take control of Venezuela’s oil industry and ask American companies to revitalize it after capturing President Nicolás Maduro in a raid isn’t likely to have a significant immediate impact on oil prices. Venezuela’s oil industry is in disrepair after years of neglect and international sanctions, so it could take years and major investments before production can increase dramatically. But some analysts are optimistic that Venezuela could double or triple its current output of about 1.1 million barrels of oil a day to return to historic levels fairly quickly. […]

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