U.S. President Donald Trump pressed top oil executives on Friday (January 9, 2026) to invest in Venezuela’s vast reserves but was met with a cautious reception — with one major CEO dismissing the country as “uninvestable” without sweeping reforms.

Mr. Trump told the industry leaders that his administration – not Caracas – would decide which firms are allowed to operate in Venezuela following the stunning capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

“We’re going to be making the decision as to which oil companies are going to go in… (we’re) going to cut a deal with the companies,” Mr. Trump said at the White House, arguing that foreign firms had had no meaningful protections under Mr. Maduro.

“But now you have total security. It’s a whole different Venezuela,” he added.

Mr. Trump said oil companies would “deal with us directly,” signalling that the U.S. government would attempt to cut the oil-rich, cash-poor Latin American nation completely out of the loop when it came to exploiting its own resources.

Despite Mr. Trump’s assurances, ExxonMobil Chief Executive Darren Woods struck a note of scepticism.

“We’ve had our assets seized there twice, and so, you can imagine, to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes,” he said.

“If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela – today, it’s uninvestable,” Mr. Woods said.

The White House meeting came less than a week after U.S. forces seized Mr. Maduro, with Mr. Trump making no secret that control of Venezuela’s oil was central to his actions.

Opening the session, he said the talks would focus on how U.S. companies could rapidly rebuild the country’s dilapidated oil industry and boost production by millions of barrels a day.

Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright attended alongside executives from Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, Vitol Americas and Repsol, among others.

A spokesman for ConocoPhillips said CEO Ryan Lance appreciated the discussion about “preparing Venezuela to be investment-ready.”

Speaking after the meeting, Mr. Trump said participants had “sort of formed a deal,” but offered no specifics. He claimed oil companies were prepared to invest “at least 100 Billion Dollars.”

Rebuilding will ‘take time’

Analysts told AFP that Mr. Trump’s push to revive Venezuela’s oil industry rests on shaky economic and strategic ground.

Experts warned that vast reserves on paper do not translate into quick or profitable production, citing outdated infrastructure, political instability, the high cost of extracting heavy crude, and investor unease in a world shifting away from fossil fuels.

“There’s lots of talk about the size of the reserves – 300 billion barrels of proved reserves – but what’s often missing from the conversation is how realistic it is for those to be economically extracted,” said Rich Collett-White, an energy analyst at Carbon Tracker.

After the talks, Mr. Wright – who has said Washington will control Venezuela’s oil industry “indefinitely” – admitted that it will “take time” to rebuild its infrastructure.

Further strikes cancelled

While Mr. Trump touts the country’s oil resources to U.S. companies, Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez has said her government remains in charge. The State oil company has said only that it was in negotiations with Washington.

Chevron is currently the only U.S. firm licensed to operate in Venezuela.

ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips exited in 2007 after refusing demands by then-President Hugo Chavez to cede majority control to the State.

In a social media post, Mr. Trump said he cancelled a second wave of strikes on Venezuela due to what he called “cooperation” from the country.

Sanctioned by Washington since 2019, Venezuela sits on about a fifth of the world’s oil reserves and was once a major crude supplier to the United States.

But it produced only around 1% of the world’s total crude output in 2024, according to OPEC, having been hampered by years of underinvestment, sanctions and embargoes.

Mr. Trump sees the country’s massive oil reserves as a windfall in his fight to further lower U.S. domestic fuel prices.

Published – January 10, 2026 12:34 pm IST

The vessel tanker Bella 1 changed its name to the Marinera and switched ⁠its registration to Russia, the Journal said.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Oil prices fell back Monday (January 5, 2026) while the prices of precious metals surged as markets reacted calmly to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a weekend raid.

Asian shares rallied on heavy buying of tech-related stocks after modest gains on Friday (January 2) on Wall Street. The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.2% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged.

Follow the U.S.-Venezuela tensions LIVE Updates on January 5, 2025

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX was up 0.8% at 24,728.94, while the CAC 40 in Paris picked up 0.3% to 8,216.98. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.2% higher, to 9,968.71.

“While the capture of Venezuelan president Mr. Maduro by American forces has dominated headlines, financial markets seem unperturbed,” Thomas Mathews of Capital Economics said in a report. “We agree with the implicit view that the near-term economic and financial implications are minor.”

Shortly after trading began on Monday (January 5), the U.S. benchmark crude oil rose slightly. But it later traded 36 cents lower at $56.96 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 34 cents to $60.41 per barrel.

After years of neglect and international sanctions, Venezuela’s oil industry is in disrepair. It could take years and major investments before production can increase dramatically. But some analysts expect its current output of about 1.1 million barrels a day could double or triple fairly quickly.

With oil levels already plentiful, crude already was trading near its lowest level in about six months.

In any case, the U.S. move rippled through financial markets as traders manoeuvred to account for the uncertainty brought on by President Donald Trump’s unusual military operation and his insistence that the U.S. will be running Venezuela following Mr. Maduro’s ouster.

The price of gold rose 2.7% and silver jumped 6.6%.

Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil.

“Investors are happy to own risk, but they want insurance in the drawer. This is confidence with a hedge, not euphoria,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Share prices in Asia shot sharply higher.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 jumped 3% to 51,832.80, its highest close since it hit a record of 52,411.34 on Oct. 31. The index closed at a year-end high for 2025 and only resumed trading on Monday (January 5).

“Looking at the environment surrounding the markets, continuously, there are various risk factors. We must keep an eye on geopolitical risks in Ukraine, the Middle East and East Asia, the U.S.-China trade war, monetary policies in other countries and their development, and corporate performance trends in Japan,” Hiromi Yamaji, CEO of the Japan Exchange Group, said in the market’s traditional New Year opening ceremony.

South Korea’s Kospi surged 3.4% to 4,457.52, a record. It also ended on Friday (January 2) with a record high close.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed flat at 8,728.60, while Taiwan’s benchmark climbed 2.6%.

In other trading early on Monday (January 5), the dollar rose to 156.88 Japanese yen from 156.82 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1680 from $1.1726.

This week is the first full week of the new year. It will bring several closely watched U.S. economic updates, some of the last big updates the Fed will see before its next meeting at the end of January.

On the agenda are private reports on the status of the services sector, which is the largest part of the U.S. economy, along with consumer sentiment. Government reports on the job market will also be released. The hope is they’ll help paint a clearer picture of how various parts of the U.S. economy closed out 2025 and where it might be headed in 2026.

On Friday (January 2), U.S. stocks eked out small gains to kick off the new year.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, and the Dow rose 0.7%. The Nasdaq composite fell less than 0.1%, weighed down by a 2.2% loss for Microsoft and a 2.6% decline for Tesla, after it reported falling sales for a second year in a row.

NVIDIA, Microsoft and Tesla are among the most valuable companies in the world, and their outsized valuations give them more influence on the stock market’s direction. That includes sometimes pushing the market up and down from hour to hour.

Published – January 05, 2026 05:34 pm IST

Hours after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured and flown from the country after “a large-scale strike”, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday (January 3, 2026) that the United States will “run” Venezuela and tap its huge oil reserves. He was speaking at a press conference at ‌his Mar-a-Lago ‌club in Florida after what he claimed was “one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American might and confidence”.

He said the strike “rendered all Venezuelan military capacities powerless”. Without getting into details, Mr. Trump said: “We’re going to be running it with a group.” U.S. ⁠Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to be working ⁠on the details.

“We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Mr. Trump said, adding that Mr. Maduro and his wife have been indicted in the southern district of New York for their campaign of deadly narco-terrorism against the United States and its citizens.

Also Read: Venezuela explosions LIVE Updates on January 3, 2026

At the press conference, Mr. Trump indicated that U.S. troops could be deployed in Venezuela. The U..S is “not afraid of boots on the ground,” he said.

Although the operation is being framed as a law-enforcement action, the U.S. President made clear that regime change and Venezuela’s oil riches are the major goals. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” he said.

“We’ll be selling large amounts of oil,” he said.

The 79-year-old Republican also posted a picture of Mr. Maduro in custody on a U.S. naval ship wearing a blindfold, handcuffs and what looked like noise-canceling ear muffs. He and his wife were being taken to New York to face narcotics and terrorism charges.

Although the operation is being framed as a law-enforcement action, Trump made clear that regime change and Venezuela’s oil riches are the major goals.

Talking about the operation, Mr. Trump said the assault began with a partial blackout caused by U.S. “expertise.”

“Overwhelming American military power – air, land and sea was used to launch this assault. It was an assault like people have not seen since World War 2. It was a force against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas to bring outlaw-dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice. This was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American might and confidence in American history. No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved. All Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the U.S. law enforcement successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night,” Mr. Trump said.

“We knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in from sea. Most of these drugs come from Venezuela,” he said.

Mr. Trump ⁠said that U.S. ‍forces were prepared for ‍a second, larger attack as part of the operation to capture ⁠Mr. Maduro overnight, but that it was not ⁠necessary.

Mr. Trump told ⁠reporters that the U.S. military forces would remain ⁠in position until U.S. demands had ‌been fully ‌met. “The American armada remains ‍poised in position, and ‍the United States retains all military options until the United States’ demands have ⁠been fully met and fully satisfied,” he ⁠said.

Embargo on oil in full-effect

A U.S. embargo on all ‌Venezuelan oil remains in full effect, Mr. Trump said.

The Trump administration notified members ‌of Congress about the military operation in Venezuela immediately afterwards, Mr. ⁠Rubio told reporters. “This is ⁠not the kind of mission that ‌you can ‌do congressional notification on,” Mr. Rubio ‍said. “It was a trigger-based mission ‍in which conditions had to be met night after night. Congress has ⁠a tendency to leak,” Mr. Trump added.

More than 150 aircrafts

U.S. Chairman of ‌the Joint Chiefs ‍of Staff General Dan ‍Caine said that the operation involving Venezuela included more than 150 ⁠aircraft and was carried out on the ⁠direct orders of ‌Mr. Trump.

He said that Mr. Trump ordered the U.S. military at 10:46 p.m. ⁠ET on Friday (January 2) to move forward with ⁠the Venezuela mission.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores surrendered to U.S. forces in Caracas, before being extracted from the country to face federal drug trafficking-related charges in New York, a General Caine said.

“Maduro and his wife, both indicted, gave up and were taken into custody by the Department of Justice, assisted by our incredible U.S. military with professionalism and precision, with no loss of U.S. life,” General Caine said.

(with inputs from Reuters, AFP)

Published – January 03, 2026 11:42 pm IST

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday (November 30, 2025) he had recently spoken with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro amid soaring tensions between the two countries, while Caracas slammed what it called U.S. preparations for an attack.

The United States is piling the pressure on Venezuela, with a major military buildup in the Caribbean, the designation of an alleged drug cartel run by Mr. Maduro as a terrorist group, and an ominous warning from Mr. Trump that Venezuelan airspace is “closed.”

Washington says the aim of the military deployment launched in September is to curb drug trafficking in the region, but Caracas insists regime change is the ultimate goal.

“I wouldn’t say it went well or badly. It was a phone call,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Sunday (November 30) aboard Air Force One.

The New York Times reported on Friday (November 28) that Mr. Trump and Mr. Maduro had discussed a possible meeting, while The Wall Street Journal said on Saturday (November 29) that the conversation also included conditions of amnesty if Mr. Maduro were to step down.

Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin said on Sunday (November 30) on CNN’s “State of the Union” talk show that the United States has offered Mr. Maduro the chance to leave his country for Russia or elsewhere.

The United States accuses Mr. Maduro, the political heir to Venezuela’s late leftist leader Hugo Chavez, of heading the “Cartel of the Suns” and has issued a $50 million reward for his capture.

But Venezuela and countries that support it insist no such organisation even exists.

Several Venezuela experts say what Washington calls the Cartel of the Suns refers to the corruption of senior officials by criminal gangs.

The United States also does not recognise Mr. Maduro as the legitimate winner of last year’s presidential election.

Though Mr. Trump has not publicly threatened to use force against Mr. Maduro, he said in recent days that efforts to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking “by land” would begin “very soon.”

Aid from OPEC?

Venezuela says it has requested assistance from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which it is a member, to help “stop this (American) aggression, which is being readied with more and more force.”

The request came in a letter from Mr. Maduro to the group, read by Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez, who is also Venezuela’s oil minister, during a virtual meeting of OPEC ministers.

Washington “is trying to seize Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, the biggest in the world, by using military force,” Mr. Maduro wrote in the letter.

Since September, U.S. air strikes have targeted alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 83 people.

Trump’s administration has offered no concrete evidence to back up the allegations behind its campaign, and numerous experts have questioned the legality of the operations.

U.S. media reported on Friday (November 28) that in one strike in September, the U.S. military conducted a follow-up strike that killed survivors of an initial attack.

The Washington Post and CNN said Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had issued a directive to “kill everybody,” but Mr. Trump said on Sunday (November 30) that Mr. Hegseth had denied giving such an order.

“We’ll look into it, but no, I wouldn’t have wanted that — not a second strike,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.”

‘Extrajudicial executions’

The head of Venezuela’s legislature, Jorge Rodriguez, said he met on Sunday (November 30) with relatives of Venezuelans killed in the strikes.

He would not comment on a possible Trump-Maduro call.

But when asked about the report about the Mr. Hegseth order, he said, “If a war had been declared and led to such killings, we would be talking about war crimes.”

“Given that no war has been declared, what happened…can only be characterised as murder or extrajudicial executions,” he added.

The steady U.S. military buildup has seen the world’s largest aircraft carrier deployed to Caribbean waters, while American fighter jets and bombers have repeatedly flown off the Venezuelan coast in recent days.

Six airlines have cancelled services to Venezuela, but on Sunday (November 30), the airport in Caracas was functioning as usual.

Published – December 01, 2025 07:26 am IST