Now, it’s about getting American energy companies access to one of the world’s largest oil bounties. But getting foreign companies to flock back to Venezuela will be a massive challenge. “Oil companies always want oil, and Venezuela has a lot of it,” said José Ignacio Hernández, a law professor, consultant and public-debt expert at Aurora Macro Strategies. And the government has to restructure some $160 billion in debt and settle pending arbitration cases with foreign companies to convince them to come back. On Saturday, as questions were still emerging about how Venezuela’s government would function and America’s role in the country, Trump kept turning back to the country’s oil.

Source: Wall Street Journal January 04, 2026 08:05 UTC