Trump underestimates challenges facing Venezuelan oil sector: Analyst

0 January 7, 2026 01:25

United States President Donald Trump will meet with oil company executives at the White House late this week to discuss ways to revive Venezuela’s tattered oil sector, sources say. Raising crude output from Venezuela, which sits on the world’s largest oil reserves, is a top objective for Trump after US forces seized the country’s leader, Nicolas ‍Maduro, in a raid on its capital Caracas on ⁠Saturday (Jan 3). Trump has expressed confidence that US oil firms could significantly expand operations in Venezuela within 18 months. However, Renata Segura, Latin America and Caribbean programme director at the International Crisis Group, warns that the timeline is overly optimistic. She tells CNA’s Asia First that years of industry collapse, deep political instability and the absence of a functioning democratic government pose major obstacles to any rapid recovery. Read more: https://cna.asia/450eibh

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