Can the US really rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry?

Americast

BBC

Government, Politics, News

4.2 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 10 January 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the fallout of Nicolas Maduro’s dramatic capture from Venezuela to the US, Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire to obtain Venezuelan oil, which he says is integral for keeping prices low in America.

He’s also pledged to have the US oil industry operating in Venezuela within 18 months and that there would be huge private-sector investments into the country. Reports suggest representatives from major US petroleum companies are due to meet the Trump administration this week.

Not everyone is convinced by the president’s plans. Some analysts told the BBC it could take tens of billions of dollars - and potentially a decade - to restore Venezuela's former output, which has been in decline since the early 2000s.

In this episode, Justin sits down with US energy expert Robert Bryce to explore the unique challenges of reforming Venezuela’s oil industry and the mistakes that the president will have to avoid to prevent the collapse in Iraq’s oil industry following the US invasion in 2003. What reassurances would private firms need to operate, and what would it take to reverse the problems that have plagued Venezuela’s oil industry since the presidency of Hugo Chavez?

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:05.8	He used to be the case that when the United States intervened in Latin America,
0:09.6	they would say it was about protecting democracy.
0:11.7	They never really mentioned natural resources and particularly not oil.
0:15.7	This time round, in Venezuela and with the Trump administration, no, it's the opposite.
0:20.3	They are very happy to mention oil.
0:22.5	Indeed, they talk about it a lot. They have oil that is stuck in Venezuela. They can't move it
0:26.7	because of our quarantine and because it's sanctioned. We are going to take between 30 and 50 million
0:30.8	barrels of oil. We're going to sell it in the marketplace, at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela
0:35.3	was getting. That money will then be handled
0:38.0	in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed in a way that benefits to Venezuelan
0:42.7	people, not corruption, not the regime. The interim authorities have agreed to release that oil
0:47.4	to the United States, so it will be arriving here at home very soon. The United States government
0:52.7	has already begun marketing Venezuelan crude
0:54.8	oil in the global marketplace.
0:57.0	They cannot move any oil unless we allow them to move it to...
1:01.0	Well, again, I'm not going to give you a timeline on it. We wanted to move as soon as possible.
1:05.0	But we didn't expect this would... It's been three days since this happened, four days since this
1:09.0	happened. So I understand that in this cycle and society we now live in, everyone wants instant outcomes.
1:14.2	They want it to happen overnight.
1:15.4	It's not going to work that way.
1:16.9	But we're already seeing progress.
	...

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