‘We’re Going to Make a Lot of Money’: Trump on US Control of Venezuela’s Oil

The United States is signalling plans for extended control of Venezuela’s huge oil reserves after recent military strikes and the detention of President Nicolás Maduro. US President Donald Trump has argued that directing Venezuelan oil output could bring major financial gains for Washington while placing the Latin American state under American supervision for many years.

Venezuela’s reserves are central to this strategy. The country holds about 303 billion barrels of proven crude, or roughly 17 per cent of global reserves, according to the Associated Press. Despite this scale, years of sanctions, weak investment and mismanagement mean Venezuela currently supplies only around one per cent of the world’s oil.

Venezuela oil and US plans for long-term oversight

In an interview with The New York Times, Trump indicated that US involvement in Venezuela will not end soon. Asked whether American oversight might last months or a year, Trump replied that it could continue “much longer.” Trump also said Washington has built a working relationship with interim authorities led by Delcy Rodríguez.

Trump has claimed that US energy firms would restore Venezuela’s damaged oil infrastructure without asking American taxpayers to cover costs. Trump argued that this structure could help push down international oil prices, create income for the US government and inject critical funds into Venezuela’s struggling economy at the same time.

Venezuela oil exports under US and Washington supervision

“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump said, explaining that the US would handle extraction and sales of Venezuelan oil while sharing part of the earnings with Venezuela. Senior US officials have echoed Trump’s comments, saying American control over Venezuelan oil exports could last indefinitely under a managed system.

Officials in Washington are also weighing partial relaxation of sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry. The aim is to restart shut production and exports, but under strict US oversight. Plans include allowing some operations to resume while ensuring that decisions on sales, pricing and destinations remain under American direction for the foreseeable future.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright has outlined a two-stage approach for Venezuelan oil. First, Washington intends to move already stored Venezuelan crude into global markets. After that, Wright said at an energy conference in Miami, the US expects to supervise the marketing and continuous sale of future Venezuelan production on a long-term basis.

Energy analysts warn that Venezuela’s reserves could become more important as new discoveries decline worldwide. Rystad Energy chief economist Claudio Galimberti has noted that oil companies already face difficulty finding large new fields for the 2030s and 2040s, raising concerns about future global supply and giving extra weight to decisions about Venezuelan output and US control.