Donald Trump announced the capture of Nicolás Maduro in the early hours of January 3, 2026
Donald Trump has vowed to tap into Venezuela’s oil reserves after seizing President Nicolás Maduro and saying the US will “run” the country until a ‘safe’ transition.
The US president wants American oil firms to pile billions of dollars into the South American country, which has the largest crude oil reserves on the planet, to mobilise the largely untapped resource.
He said US companies will fix Venezuela’s “badly broken” oil infrastructure and “start making money for the country”.
But experts warned of huge challenges with Trump’s plan, saying it would cost billions and take up to a decade to produce a meaningful uplift in oil output.
So can the US really take control of Venezuela’s oil reserves? And will Trump’s plan work?
How much oil does Venezuela have?
It is true that with an estimated 303 billion barrels, Venezuela is home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
But the amount of oil the country actually produces today is tiny by comparison.
Output has dropped off sharply since the early 2000s, as former President Hugo Chavez and then the Maduro administration tightened control over the state-run oil company, PDVSA, leading to an exodus of more experienced staff.
Though some Western oil firms, including the US company Chevron, are still active in the country, their operations have shrunk significantly as the US has widened sanctions and targeted oil exports, aiming to curb Maduro’s access to a key economic lifeline.
Sanctions – which the US first put in place in 2015 during President Barack Obama’s administration over alleged human rights violations – have also left the country largely cut off from the investment and the parts it needs.
“The real challenge they’ve got is their infrastructure,” says Callum Macpherson, head of commodities at Investec.
In November, Venezuela produced an estimated 860,000 barrels per day, according to the latest oil market report from the International Energy Agency.
That is barely a third of what it was 10 years ago and accounts for less than 1% of world oil consumption.
The country’s oil reserves are made up of so-called “heavy, sour” oil. It is harder to refine, but useful for making diesel and asphalt. The US typically produces “light, sweet” oil used to make petrol.
In the run-up to the strikes and capture of Maduro, the US also seized two oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, as well as ordering a blockade of sanctioned tankers entering and leaving the country.
