The Trump administration has quietly polled major U.S. oil companies about whether they would return to Venezuela after the removal of socialist leader Nicolas Maduro.
The industry response has been overwhelmingly negative, according to three people familiar with the discussions who spoke to Politico.
The outreach comes as tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela are rapidly ratcheting up, with President Donald Trump moving to blockade Venezuelan oil tankers, tightening sanctions, and signaling a willingness to expand military and counternarcotics operations aimed at crippling Maduro’s regime.
The previously unreported outreach underscores that the White House is planning for a post-Maduro Venezuela as pressure on the regime intensifies across multiple fronts.
Global oil markets are central to the administration’s calculations, as low prices give Trump unusual flexibility to escalate action without risking a politically damaging spike in U.S. gasoline prices.
U.S. benchmark crude hovered around $56 a barrel this week, the lowest level since January 2021, according to Politico's reporting.
Those same depressed prices, however, are a major reason oil companies see little upside in risking billions of dollars to rebuild Venezuela’s crumbling oil infrastructure.
One person familiar with the discussions told Politico there has been early outreach to industry leaders, but interest is minimal, given cheaper, safer opportunities elsewhere.
Two additional people familiar with the effort said the administration only recently began initiating conversations and has not made a formal push.
All three sources were granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The outreach has been led by the State Department, with assistance from Evanan Romero, a former executive at the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela who now works as a consultant in Houston.
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