Oil Giants Burnt by Chavez Eye Venezuela’s New Black Gold Rush

Dealmakers are scrambling to secure supplies after Trump captured Maduro, but despite Venezuela having the largest proved reserves on Earth, it’s not as simple as turning on the taps.

The U.S. flag flutters at a makeshift American embassy in Caracas, a hotspot for oilmen racing to secure resources.

Don’t miss yesterday’s vital Deep Dive on America’s new Asian security architecture.

The Map Is Closing Around China

by Hans van Leeuwen
May 13, 2026

A week after U.S. troops spirited then-president Nicolas Maduro out of Venezuela in early January, the boss of ExxonMobil told Donald Trump that the oil-rich, dirt-poor country was “uninvestable”.

It didn’t take him long to change his tune.

“Venezuela is a huge resource that’s now opened up more freely to the world,” Darren Woods, Exxon’s chief, said in late April after dispatching a technical evaluation team to the country. “I feel positive about what’s happening, the opportunity there.”

He’s not the only one.