$100 Billion BUST - Big Oil Companies REJECT Trump’s Venezuela Oil Plan

President Donald Trump is pushing America’s largest oil companies to invest up to $100 billion in Venezuela, pitching it as a bold geopolitical and energy strategy. In this video, we break down why that proposal landed with a cool, skeptical reaction from top U.S. oil executives—and what it reveals about the limits of political power over global energy markets.

Trump frames Venezuela as a strategic win: reviving a collapsed oil industry, tapping some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, lowering global oil prices, and reasserting U.S. influence in Latin America. But executives from ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and others see a very different picture—one shaped by nationalized assets, legal risk, sanctions, political instability, and massive capital costs.

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods reportedly called Venezuela “uninvestable”, pointing to the company’s history of having assets seized—twice. Meanwhile, Chevron, which still operates in the country, believes it can modestly increase production, but nowhere near the scale Trump is demanding. Industry analysts also warn that simply maintaining current Venezuelan oil output could cost over $50 billion, with much higher figures required to significantly expand production.

This video explores:

• Why Big Oil is reluctant to return to Venezuela
• The true cost of rebuilding Venezuela’s energy sector
• How sanctions, nationalization, and political risk shape oil investment
• Trump’s use of pressure, incentives, and “security guarantees”
• Why capital is flowing instead to places like Guyana, the Permian Basin, and offshore Brazil

Ultimately, the story highlights a deeper tension between political ambition and corporate strategy. Oil executives answer to shareholders, not slogans—and no amount of presidential pressure can make a country investable overnight.