US President Donald Trump has asked for at least $100bn (£75bn) in oil industry spending for Venezuela, but received a lukewarm response at the White House as one executive warned the South American country was currently “uninvestable”.
Bosses of the biggest US oil firms who attended the meeting acknowledged that Venezuela, sitting on vast energy reserves, represented an enticing opportunity.
These oil companies included:
1. Chevron,
2. Exxon,
3. ConocoPhillips,
4. Continental,
5. Halliburton,
6. HKN,
7. Valero,
8. Marathon,
9. Shell,
10. Trafigura,
11. Vitol Americas,
12. Repsol,
13. Eni,
14. Aspect Holdings,
15. Tallgrass,
16. Raisa Energy and
17. Hilcorp
But they said significant changes would be needed to make the region an attractive investment. No major financial commitments were immediately forthcoming from any of the Oil companies CEO’s.
Trump has said he will unleash the South American nation’s oil after US forces seized its leader Nicolas Maduro in a 3 January raid on its capital.
Now, two weeks after a Sovereign Nation has been invaded and it’s President and First Lady kidnapped and imprisoned against UN and Europe International Legal Standards, Trump seems shocked that US Oil Companies won’t throw another $100 Billion at a country that the leader was illegally removed and the country was threatened with war, should anyone, civilian or military rise up against Trump’s actions of another US Regime Change country on the long list of countries and governments that got destroyed by the US. The only difference this time is that the US did this Regime Change alone, without any international allies or support for that matter, and even the US oil industry won’t back the almighty US and International ruler.
In our opinion, there are a few glaring, obvious problems:
1. A sovereign nation was invaded without UN or International support
2. A sovereign Head of State was illegally removed from Office, regardless of what he did or caused.
3. Not one citizen of Venezuela voted to change their own government, and a foreign nation took over the country, and its wealth assets, such as rare-earth and oil.
4. Because of this instability with a country under threat and it’s military and law enforcement wondering who to follow, most all of the US Oil industry felt it was insane to go and steal that country’s oil reserves.
5. Condemnation of Force: UN officials and most member states asserted that the U.S. military operation, which involved airstrikes and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, was an unlawful use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of a sovereign state.
6. Violation of UN Charter: The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, expressed deep alarm and concern that the U.S. actions disregarded a fundamental principle of international law, specifically Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force against another state.
7. Emergency Security Council Meeting: An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was held at the request of Colombia, Russia, and China to address the situation. During the meeting, even some U.S. allies, such as France, criticized the military incursion.
8. Dangerous Precedent: The UN chief and other world leaders warned that the unilateral U.S. operation set a “dangerous precedent” for international relations and global stability, undermining the rules-based world order.
To be clear, Trump and the US government’s actions were without precedent and opened up Pandora’s Box for other nations to do the same. US company CEO’s will not support this doesn’t matter how much money could be made, and this action of Trump will and is destabilizing the entire world.