President Donald Trump said he’s counting on American companies to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry. Extracting more oil from Venezuela would require rebuilding the country’s gutted oil infrastructure, which would cost, by Trump’s own telling, billions of dollars. Trump said oil companies will make Venezuela realize its lost potential as a major global oil producer. But when socialist Hugo Chávez took office in 1999, he took direct control of PDVSA and allowed Venezuela’s oil infrastructure to fester and crumble. “We built Venezuela oil industry with American talent, drive and skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us,” Trump said Saturday.

Source: CNN January 04, 2026 17:57 UTC