Major US oil executives expressed caution about President Donald Trump’s push for them to spend at least $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela, with the head of Exxon Mobil Corp. calling the nation currently “uninvestable.”
Russian Ambassador to Venezuela Sergei Melik-Bagdasarov said that Moscow’s strategic partnership with Venezuela “will continue in all areas,” following a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yva
n Gil Pinto. “Contacts between o
ur countries have not been interrupte
d for a minute, and the Venezuelan side has kept us informed of the situation following the brazen US military aggression, which resulted in the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Moros and his wife, Cilia Flores,” Melik-Bagdarosov told TASS. At the same time, Pinto stressed the “continuity” of cooperation with Moscow, adding that the strategic partnership agreement between the two countries entered into force last year. The Russian envoy noted that the United States attack on Venezuela involved the “execution” of around 100 people with “marked brutality.”
The U.S. has agreed to release two Russian crew members from the Marinera, a tanker seized in the North Atlantic, following a request from Russia. This decision was welcomed by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which expressed gratitude to the U.S. leadership for the release
Crude oil prices rose by more than 1% on Friday after United States President Donald Trump reiterated that his country plans to hit Iran “hard” if any protesters are killed, while Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Washington not to interfere. Investors’ focus also remained on the situation in Venezuela, with the US seizing another tanker due to sanctions on Venezuela’s oil trade. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February’s deliveries climbed by 1.78% at 9:55 am ET to $59.32 per barrel. At the same time, Brent for settlements in March advanced by 1.36% to $63.45 per barrel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the United States and Israel “have officially announced that they are involved” in anti-government protests in Iran. He claimed that they are trying to turn the peaceful demonstrations into “violence and chaos.” Earlier this week, reports indicated that the US and Israel are considering limited military operations in Iran, while US President Donald Trump threatened that Tehran will “pay hell” if it kills protesters. Meanwhile, Iran blamed “terrorist agents” from the US and Israel for inciting violence during yesterday’s protests.
Indeed, Venezuela’s low-hanging fruit is rather limited: According to Norwegian energy consultancy Rystad Energy, only 300-350 kbpd can be quickly restored with minimal spending from the current clip of 800,000 bpd-1 million bpd, with production beyond 1.4 mbpd requiring heavy, sustained investment. Rystad estimates that Venezuela will require $53 billion over the next 15 years just to keep production flat at 1.1 mbpd, but could need up to $183 billion over the same period to ramp up production to over 3 million bpd, roughly equivalent to the entire North American land capex for one year. A leaked document from PDVSA in 2021 revealed that the country’s oil pipelines had not been updated in 50 years, with Venezuela’s National Oil Company estimating it would take a staggering $58 billion to get them back in peak condition. Recent estimates have placed the figure in excess of $100 billion. Venezuela’s operational oil pipeline network has a total length of 2,139 miles (approximately 3,442 kilometers). For some perspective, the UAE, which produces approximately 3.2 million bpd, has ~9,000 km of oil pipeline.
US forces seized two more sanctioned oil tankers as part of its energy quarantine of Venezuela, signaling that the Trump administration will ratchet up its pressure campaign days after capturing President Nicolas Maduro. The first ship, the M/V Bella 1, was seized in the Atlantic south of Iceland after a chase that began weeks ago when the vessel evaded capture near Venezuela and registered under a Russian flag in a bid to protect itself. The Pentagon then announced the seizure of the M/T Sophia, another sanctioned vessel that officials said had been conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea.
“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X.
The US European Command said the Bella 1 was seized for sanctions violations “pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court” after being tracked by a US Coast Guard vessel.
The capture of the two ships risks inflaming tensions with Russia. The Bella 1, sanctioned in 2024, had switched to a Russian flag — its crew even painted the Russian tricolor on its hull — and changed its name to the Marinera. Russia had sent a submarine and other naval assets to provide an escort for the vessel and asked the US to stop pursuing the vessel, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The M Sophia, seized with support of the UK, was sanctioned in 2025 and had been involved in the Russian oil trade, taking on cargoes from smaller ships off the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in March 2023 and delivering them to China. With the latest seizures, the US has now detained four tankers in the weeks since imposing the quarantine on ships going to and from Venezuela, according to TankerTrackers.com, which monitors the industry. It said all four are under US sanction and have transported oil on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is designated a terrorist group by the US.
The moves highlight how the administration is expanding the scope of its quarantine with a willingness to pursue ships even if they’re far away from Venezuela.
In interviews after Maduro’s ouster on January 3, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said restricting the flow of oil would be a crucial way to exert leverage on the Venezuelan leaders who succeed him. The seizure of the Bella marks the conclusion of a chase that began in late December when the tanker turned away from Venezuela and retreated out into the Atlantic Ocean in a bid to avoid a US quarantine. The Trump administration deployed its naval assets in the Caribbean to squeeze Maduro in the days before US special forces launched an operation to capture him. Trade intelligence company Kpler lists the vessel as loading about two million barrels of Venezuelan crude from the Jose export terminal in late December.
President Donald Trump late Tuesday said Venezuela will send the U.S. 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil, which will then be sold by the U.S. and the proceeds controlled by him. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the interim authorities in Venezuela will “turn over” to the U.S. “high quality, sanctioned” oil. “This oil will be sold at its market price and that money will be controlled by me” to “ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States,” he said. “I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately,” Trump added. “It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States.” It is unclear how it would be legal for the president to control the proceeds of such a sale, as Congress generally appropriates funds as is mandated under the Constitution. There are also practical issues, such as shipping capacity and the immediate ability for U.S. refineries to process heavy Venezuelan crude. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more details Venezuela has been producing around 1 million barrels of crude a day, so the deal would represent about one to two months’ production. It’s hard to gauge the market price for Venezuelan crude since it’s been sanctioned by the U.S. for years. Heavy crude is generally trading around the mid-$40 level, Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for Gulf Oil, said That’s “not exactly a stunning return,” he said.
Venezuela’s National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) said 14 journalists and media workers, 13 of whom worked with international media outlets, were temporarily detained in Caracas on Monday. Of those detained, 13 were released while one was deported, the SNTP said on X. “We documented the inspection of equipment, unlocking of phones, tracking of calls and messages on communication platforms and social networks,” it added. The detentions came after the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife over the weekend. The two are now facing criminal charges in a federal court in New York. United States President Donald Trump said that elections will not be held in Venezuela within the next month. Trump explained that conditions in Venezuela prevent a vote from taking place soon. “ “We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote,” he said, adding, “It’s going to take a period of time.”
US and Israeli officials indicated a potential shift toward intervention in Iran, following the dramatic abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro by US forces, The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday. While no final decision has been made, both Washington and Israel are assessing whether Maduro’s removal could open new paths to challenge Iran’s regime amid growing protests. The Jerusalem Post also reported that the US might support Iranian protesters through limited military or covert measures.
Vice President Delcy Rodríguez — who Trump said would partner with Washington to “make Venezuela great again” — denounced the intervention as “barbaric” and a “kidnapping.” Adding to the confusion was that the White House offered few details about what running an oil-producing nation of about 30 million people would entail. A US official said Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who has spent his career criticizing Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez — would take the leading administration role. President Donald Trump said American oil companies will “spend billions of dollars” to fix oil infrastructure in Venezuela. For now, there’s no plan spelled out to have American troops or administrators in Venezuela. But Trump signaled he’s keenly focused on the country’s petroleum, saying the US would have a “presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil.” That could mean a greater role for Chevron Corp., which still operates in Venezuela under waivers from sanctions, as well as for other major American oil companies. Trump’s resistance to keeping American boots on the ground and his dismissal of Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado as a “nice woman” not ready to take power suggest he decided on giving Rodríguez and other Maduro loyalists a second chance over full-blown regime change. Trump is “essentially trying to control the vice president and people around her through carrots and sticks to get the outcomes the United States wants,” said Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. “We’ll see if it works.” On Sunday, Trump told the Atlantic magazine that some rebuilding will be needed in Venezuela as he issued a warning to Rodríguez. “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” he said. Rubio said Sunday that the US would watch her actions more than her rhetoric. “We are going to make an assessment of what they do, not what they say publicly in the interim, not what we know, what they’ve done in the past in many cases, but what they do moving forward,” he said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “So we’re going to find out.” Trump warned of a potential second wave of American attacks if that cooperation isn’t forthcoming. “All political and military figures in Venezuela should understand what happened to Maduro can happen to them, and it will happen to them” if they weren’t “fair” to the Venezuelan people, he said. “A bigger concern really would be that this all falls apart here, that there isn’t an effort to make sure there’s a successful handoff,” said Matt Terrill, managing partner at Firehouse Strategies.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+) reaffirmed once more its November 2 resolution to halt output increases in February and March of 2026 “due to seasonality.” Eight OPEC+ nations said in a statement on Sunday that they will be monitoring and evaluating market conditions and that “the 1.65 million barrels per day may be returned in part or in full subject to evolving market conditions and in a gradual manner.” The eight nations agreed to meet once a month to “review market conditions, conformity, and compensation.” February 1st is the date of the upcoming meeting.