Seriously, who wrote this?

The U.S. Department of Energy published this “fact sheet” on how the U.S. will handle Venezuela’s oil and other infrastructure issues for the foreseeable future:

I feel… unclean.

The Times reported that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, “said the United States intended to maintain significant control over Venezuela’s oil industry, including by overseeing the sale of the country’s production ‘indefinitely.’” ²

In selling the Venezuelan crude, the U.S. will capture some percentage of the proceeds. ³

Comment

Don’t think for a moment the U.S. is going to see any of that money (much less Venezuela). The U.S. Congress has “the power of the purse,” among other powers designated by the Constitution. The Trump Administration has worked tirelessly to omit the Legislative Branch from its operations in order to work autonomously — and illegally.

If any of this was above board to begin with, Congress would have been briefed on, and permitted, Operation Absolute Resolve, and Congress would be ensuring any money from oil sales would actually flow into the U.S. treasury. Instead, President Trump announced that he would personally control those proceeds:

My suspicion is that Trump pulled the trigger on the operation to create another “golden parachute” for himself post-impeachment and resignation. He knows his name is Mudd; might as well get muddy with crude in it someplace, I suppose.

Money wasn’t the only objective of Absolute Resolve. Arguably, Maduro wasn’t even the objective — it was really Cuba and China. Oil wasn’t the “what,” it was the “how:” Cuba will edge closer to freedom without the sustenance Venezuela was providing, and China will be forced to supplement its oil needs elsewhere.

Oil is relatively plentiful, given the emergence of EVs. Global demand is down. American oil firms must include this in the calculus of a return to Venezuela. Another consideration: Venezuela’s crude is thick, corrosive, and sour. Extraction requires additional skill, advanced metallurgy, and additional refinement. All are added costs. One begins to wonder if investors will be signing up for negative ROI.

Still, this isn’t to say that Venezuela won’t benefit. It seems to me certain infrastructure upgrades will be in the best interests of both the United States and Venezuela to sustain and eventually expand operations. Plus, its how the U.S. could justify the lion’s share of profits from sales, at least initially.

---

1. FACT SHEET: President Trump is Restoring Prosperity, Safety and Security for the United States and Venezuela. (2026, January 7). Energy.gov. https://www.energy.gov/articles/fact-sheet-president-trump-restoring-prosperity-safety-and-security-united-states-and
   ↩︎
2. Elliott, R. F., & Jimison, R. (2026, January 7). U.S. Sets Out Bare-Bones Plan to Control Venezuela’s Oil Sales. The New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2026, from https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/business/energy-environment/us-venezuela-oil-control.html
   ↩︎
3. Ibid.
   ↩︎