this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2026
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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.

But they said significant changes would be needed to make the region an attractive investment. No major financial commitments were immediately forthcoming.

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[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 14 minutes ago

They know that Trump is just going to keep the money, and have the US government pay for it all.

Also, it's one thing to support him, it's not even so bad to give him some money now and then, but he is demanding an enormous commitment, and they know that about the only thing you can trust a MAGA government to do is royally fuck it up.

They also see the writing on the wall, MAGA's days are numbered, they will be undone by their own virtuosic incompetence. Short term investment for quick gains is one thing, but long term investment in MAGA is a very bad idea.

[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 3 hours ago

It would be very funny and well deserved if they invested on his pressure and in a few years Venezuela just nationalises everything again.

[–] evol@lemmy.today 8 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

bro did not text the signal group chat about his Venezuela plans before doing it damn

[–] sik0fewl@lemmy.ca 7 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 12 minutes ago)

He actually did, he just didn’t wait to hear back that it was a terrible idea.

[–] Cloudstash@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

Have people started falling out of windows yet in the USA, like in Russia?

[–] No1@aussie.zone 9 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Trump uses 'Art of the deal'.

It's not very effective.

[–] evol@lemmy.today 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Don't worry, to cover the risk the YUGEOIL act will be passed granting 0% interest subsidies to all oil companies that expand into Venezuela

Exxon will also after getting the subsidies buy a nice portion of DJT and trump coin at the same time, not sure why, CEO must just like the stock

[–] MrSulu@lemmy.ml 21 points 7 hours ago

Whaaaaaaaat? Dragging the dirtiest type of oil out of the ground from a country still resisting invasion isn't going to be cost effective?

[–] Tehbaz@lemmy.wtf 8 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

The US taxpayers were never going to benefit from this blatant theft of Venezuelan oil at all. The profits were to be deposited directly into Trump & his families accounts after using taxpayer funds to secure the country. That's also the reason why he wants Greenland so he can enrich himself with stolen minerals, with the US military serving as his personal army.

[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

with the US military serving as his personal army.

Either them or Erik Prince.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 18 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

So when he was on air force one and said that he'd spoken to the oil companies before the invasion. That was obviously a lie.

Is brain really is mush isn't it.

[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

He is but a puppet working on behalf of the oligarchy anywhere.

[–] Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago

More if a gelatinous goo, somewhere between the consistency of loose slime and snot.

[–] floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 hours ago

He did, in his head.

[–] bookmeat@lemmynsfw.com 7 points 7 hours ago

The gist wasn't that he didn't want to invest. It was that he can't invest until Trump "fixes" problems with the country. Like its leadership and laws, etc.

[–] biofaust@lemmy.world 8 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

This podcast episode explains very well Exxon's logic: https://pca.st/episode/d7084179-677a-4c82-ac90-c53cf28110c4

I never thought I would be on an oil company's side in a discussion in my life.

[–] d00ery@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago

Here's the podcast episode description:

When people think of oil rich nations their mind generally goes to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the US.

But according to international statistics, the country with the largest oil reserves is Venezuela, with 300 billion barrels worth.

At their peak they produced over 3.5 million barrels of the stuff per day. However, due to lack of investment, sanctions and mismanagement that peak is long gone.

Following their military intervention, the US administration claims they can get Venezuela's oil production up and running at full capacity within 18 months.

But can they, and why is it that estimates for other countries oil reserves have fluctuated but Venezuela’s has stayed at 300 billion barrels for over two decades?

[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world 19 points 14 hours ago

Who knew the guy who bankrupted a casino despite his daddy giving him millions to run it was bad at business?

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 39 points 19 hours ago (2 children)
[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

Cheap fuel for his fanatics wanting the "good old days".

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 10 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

He's so bad at business that he doesn't realise that companies won't want to oversaturate the market and lower their margins. This is a concept of 12-year-old should be able to understand.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 1 points 32 minutes ago

They should just sell at a loss and make it up on the volume, duh!

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 179 points 1 day ago (9 children)

Sure, invest $100bn into an unstable country chasing a dying technology at the behest of a corrupt regime. Even for oil companies, Venezuela is too hot to touch.

[–] ZoteTheMighty@lemmy.zip 75 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Not to mention there's a solid chance the next president will basically dedicate their career to undoing Trump's BS, so there's no guarantee you'll get more than a few years of revenue.

[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

the next president will basically dedicate their career to undoing Trump’s BS

And don't forget half the time Trump undoes his own purported industrial policy.

With the tariffs he was so inconsistent and capricious, that nobody could rely on having an edge over foreign competition long term and so nobody would dare to invest in manufacturing in the USA. If he felt like it he just cut them off from their essential foreign inputs too. Not to mention how he threatened pulling back the CHIPS Act subsidies from Intel, or how he raided Hyundai.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

A month from now:

I'm working on this horrible Venezuela situation that BIDEN left me with. Such a waste of American resources but I'm going to pull that back to make America great again.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 9 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Even if Trump hangs around as a dictator there's still no point investing in Venezuela. It's not as if there is even a global oil shortage so why would you want to build more infrastructure.

[–] bbboi@feddit.uk 4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Trump is looking at fighting a war in Venezuela, Greenland and at home. How could anybody possibly think this regime is ever going to be anything near stable?

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

I've played enough Battlefield to know that a war in a oil field is nothing at short of spectacular.

[–] drdalek@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 1 day ago (8 children)

If we have another election at all

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[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 27 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (4 children)

It goes beyond that. Venezuela's oil is heavy crude(if I understood correctly) which is difficult to process and requires specialized refineries in which US oil companies have not invested in.

EDIT: See comments below for corrections and more context.

[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A few months ago Trumpist billionaire Paul Singer bought Citgo, the former U.S.-based arm of Venezuela’s state-run oil company. Citgo owns three Gulf Coast refineries custom-built to process Venezuelan crude, refineries that have suffered from the U.S. embargo on imports of that crude. If Trump lifts that embargo, Singer will receive a huge windfall. But this windfall will have nothing to do with reviving Venezuelan production.

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-emperors-new-oil-wealth

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[–] Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, this is why every article that mentions Venezuelas huge oil reserves needs to also mention it is the costliest/ lowest margin oil too. Not all oil reserves are the same, the Saudis being able to pull a barrel out for $15 and sell it for $80 is a way different position then Venezuela pulling a barrel out for $60 and selling it for $70.

It is probably just part of the media manufacturing consent for regime change: "look how resource rich Venezuela is and how poor the people are, it must be because the evil Maduro regime" completely ignoring sanctions. Yeah mismanagement is part of the reason Venezuela is doing poorly but even if they were run perfectly with no corruption they still wouldn't be living like the Saudis.

[–] TheJesusaurus@sh.itjust.works 5 points 15 hours ago

Yep. Canada's tar sands are similar. Low grade tar that can be sold for cheap or upgraded for profit. Either way though even without counting labour standards and wages it costs twice as much to pull it out of the ground and we'll sell it for half as much

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 70 points 1 day ago (7 children)

So basically, it looks like he committed an international crime for oil and then won't even get the oil. No one should be surprised, I guess. Incompetence is the only constant.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 5 points 8 hours ago

I'm starting to see how he managed to bankrupt the casino. It's because he won't stop committing pointless crimes that don't in fact benefit him in any way.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 18 points 20 hours ago

The oil execs are saying it's "uninvestable" precisely because they know how incompetent Trump is.

[–] SoloCritical@lemmy.world 27 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

This actually sounds more like they want American troops to turn Venezuela into not-Venezuela.. THEN they would feel safe investing.

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[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 37 points 23 hours ago

Trump: anyone want to buy some stereos? They fell of a truck.

Oil companies: ehh….

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 59 points 1 day ago (3 children)

What a fucking doofus Trump is. He couldn't consider the cost of his actions - and the likely fallout of the same - if his life depended on it.

[–] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 34 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A competent State Department would have insisted on this kind of discussion before sending in SEAL Team Six

[–] r8KNzcU8TzCroexsE2xbWC@lemmy.ca 42 points 1 day ago (4 children)

A competent state department wouldn’t send in SEAL Team Six into a sovereign country they are not at war with.

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