President Donald Trump on Friday presented the administration’s Venezuela oil strategy as a major commercial opening for U.S. energy companies. He told industry leaders the agreement could generate “tremendous wealth” for firms and “great wealth” for Americans.
Speaking to senior executives from oil producers, refiners, and trading houses, Trump said Washington is reshaping Venezuela’s energy sector under U.S. leverage. He called participating companies “treasured partners in bringing the nation of Venezuela back to life.”
Trump stressed that participation was optional. However, he warned that competition would be intense. Companies that hesitate, he said, will lose their place.
“If you don’t want to do it, there are 25 people not in this room who will take your place,” he told the gathering.
The message was direct: the United States is reopening Venezuela’s oil industry, and companies that move quickly stand to gain the most.
White House Frames Policy Shift
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the strategy breaks sharply from past U.S. approaches to Venezuela.
“For 25 years we’ve watched the Venezuelan regime collapse—everything is going in the wrong direction,” Wright said in earlier remarks on Fox News. He argued that prior policies failed to curb corruption, criminal activity, and economic decline.
Wright said the new plan focuses on enforcing sanctions that already existed but were rarely applied. Instead of direct conflict, he said the administration is using pressure and leverage.
“This is using military force without firing bullets, without soldiers on the ground, but getting the full impact of that force,” Wright said. He added that the strategy aims to lower energy prices, disrupt criminal flows, and reverse Venezuela’s economic collapse.
“Phase Two” Built Around Oil
The strategy follows the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Senator Dave McCormick described the operation as “an incredible, magnificently orchestrated law enforcement, military, and intel operation.”
McCormick said the next stage—what he called “Phase Two”—will focus on Venezuela’s oil resources. He said the plan pursues four goals: cutting drug flows into the United States, ending Venezuela’s role as a haven for U.S. adversaries, rebuilding the oil sector with Western capital and expertise, and laying a long-term path toward democratic self-rule.
Production figures highlight the scale of the opportunity. Venezuela produced about 4 million barrels per day in 1975. Today, output stands near 800,000 barrels per day after decades of underinvestment and mismanagement. Even a partial recovery could reshape regional energy flows.
Executives at the meeting represented a wide range of firms, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Vitol, Trafigura, Repsol, and Eni. The group spanned upstream production, refining, and infrastructure.
Trump said the administration views oil as both Venezuela’s economic engine and a strategic U.S. asset. He warned companies not to delay.
“If we hadn’t done this,” Trump told the executives, “China or Russia would have done it.”
