American Oil Majors Hold Back as Washington Pushes Hard on Venezuelan Oil
Washington signals a fast return of Venezuelan crude to global markets, yet U.S. oil majors remain wary, leaving smaller producers to circle a prize still weighed down by risk, reform, and politics
Plymouth, Minnesota | January 14, 2026 - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on January 8 publicly acknowledged what many in the energy industry have quietly signaled for months: America’s largest oil companies remain wary of Venezuela, even as Washington dismantles the political architecture that once locked the country out of global markets.
Speaking at the Economic Club of Minnesota, Bessent said the Treasury has detected “little enthusiasm” from major international oil companies to invest in Venezuela following the U.S.-led removal of former President Nicolás Maduro. While the country holds the world’s largest proven crude reserves (303 million barrels), Bessent noted that entrenched bureaucracy, legal uncertainty, and strategic risk continue to deter large-scale capital. By contrast, he said, smaller independent producers and U.S. wildcatters have flooded the Treasury with inquiries, eager to move quickly into a market long starved of investment.
The remarks framed a widening gap between the Trump administration’s ambition to revive Venezuelan oil output and the caution of industry heavyweights expected to anchor that revival.
That tension became clearer the following day, when President Donald Trump hosted executives from ExxonMobil, Chevron, and other majors at the White House. No investment commitments emerged from the meeting. ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods reportedly described Venezuela as “uninvestable” absent sweeping reforms to its legal framework, security environment, and financial system. Trump later suggested Exxon could be excluded from future opportunities in the country, underscoring the administration’s growing impatience with corporate reluctance.
Behind the scenes, Washington has been moving to lower the barriers. In a Reuters interview on January 10, Bessent said the U.S. could lift additional sanctions on Venezuelan oil sales “as soon as next week,” potentially allowing oil revenues to be repatriated and used for economic stabilization. He also confirmed plans to engage IMF and World Bank leadership on Venezuela’s re-entry into the international financial system, including discussions around unlocking roughly $5 billion in frozen IMF assets.
As of January 14, no new sanctions relief has been formally announced, though officials continue to signal that action remains imminent.
The market implications are already being debated. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on January 13 that easing sanctions could meaningfully lift Venezuelan output, adding new supply to an already saturated global oil market. Such a development could weigh on prices and slow U.S. shale drilling, an outcome that has drawn concern from domestic producers.
Political resistance is also building. Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged Bessent not to deploy taxpayer-backed guarantees to underwrite private investment in Venezuela, while the Treasury continues to tighten enforcement against entities evading existing sanctions, most recently with new measures announced on December 31.
For now, Venezuela’s oil comeback remains a study in asymmetry: a government eager to open the taps, smaller players ready to take the risk, and oil majors still standing at the edge of the field, waiting for firmer ground.
