Why is Donald Trump so interested in Venezuela's oil? (REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE)
The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a midnight raid. Right after, President Donald Trump announced that Maduro was out, and the US would step in to “run the country” until a new government takes shape.
But there’s more to this story than just headlines about corruption or drug trafficking. Venezuela sits on a pile of wealth, mostly in the form of oil and gold, which is hard to ignore.
Venezuela actually has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. Add to that huge gold deposits, thanks to its unique geology in the Orinoco Belt and the ancient Guayana Shield.
These resources have always attracted global attention, but after those US airstrikes and Maduro’s capture in Operation Absolute Resolve on January 3, 2026, the spotlight only got brighter.
Let’s talk about the land itself. Venezuela’s geography is all over the place in a good way. You get Andean mountains in the west, the sprawling Orinoco River basin to the east, and the old, mineral-rich Guayana Shield in the south and east.
That’s over 415,000 square kilometres of ancient rock.
The Orinoco Belt is a huge deal. It’s a 55,000 square kilometre stretch along the eastern Orinoco Basin, and it sits on top of extra-heavy crude. We’re talking about an estimated 1,200 billion barrels enough to rival the world’s biggest oil reserves.
Down south, you find jungle plains and rugged highlands perfect for gold mining. The Guayana Shield is a treasure chest, with gold veins, placers, and deposits totalling over 10,000 tons that can actually be mined.
There are over 200 gold sites, many with even more untapped potential, maybe up to another 8,000 metric tons. Choco 10 in Bolivar State is just one example of the kind of rich gold deposits you find in this ancient ground.
Back to oil. Underneath the Orinoco Belt, you’ve got these Miocene-era sediments, the Oficina and Merecure Formations. They’re packed with organic material that, after ages of heat and pressure, turned into the super-heavy oil Venezuela is known for.
The US Geological Survey thinks there are between 380 and 652 billion barrels that can actually be extracted, maybe even as much as 1,400 billion barrels in total. It’s thick, sticky stuff that needs advanced tech to get out, but it puts Venezuela ahead of even Saudi Arabia when it comes to reserves.
So, how’s the oil business actually going? According to the Energy Institute, Venezuela holds about 17% of the world’s oil roughly 303 billion barrels. But production has nosedived.
Back in the 1970s, Venezuela pumped out 3.5 million barrels a day. Last year, it barely managed 1.1 million a day just 1% of global production.
The US used to buy most of that oil, but after sanctions hit, China stepped in as Venezuela’s main customer.
In 2026, American forces hit Caracas as things got heated over drug trafficking, sanctions, and those Venezuelan oil tankers.
Sure, those were the headlines, but dig deeper, and you’ll find experts talking about something bigger—control over oil and gold, and pushing back against China and Russia in the region.
Trump didn’t hide his intentions. He talked about taking back Venezuela’s “stolen” oil wealth for American companies, at first leaving PDVSA’s facilities alone.
All this ramps up the risk of chaos across the region, but the message is clear: Venezuela’s resources are the real prize here.
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