Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the Trump administration is “pretty confident” that Western oil companies will be willing to return to Venezuela, but did not say whether U.S. troops would be used to secure oil fields in the country.
“This is not about securing the oil fields,” Rubio told ABC News’ “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos. “This is about ensuring that no sanctioned oil can come in and out until changes are made to the governance of that entire industry,” he said.
Rubio noted that while he has not spoken to any American oil companies in recent days, the White House anticipates “dramatic interest from Western companies.”
“I think there would be tremendous demand and interest from private industry if they were given the space to do it, if they were given the opportunity to do it,” Rubio said of companies returning to operate in Venezuela. Currently, only one American company, Chevron, operates in Venezuela under a special license.
The tanker MT Bandra, flagged by Guinea, which is under sanctions, is seen partially next to another vessel at the El Palito terminal near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, on December 29, 2025.
Juan Carlos Hernandez/Reuters
Venezuela has the largest known oil reserves in the world and exports hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil every day.
Rubio reiterated that despite Maduro’s overthrow, the United States maintained its “quarantine” of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
“If you are a sanctioned ship and you are heading towards Venezuela, you will be detained when entering or leaving,” he said, adding that he believed the application of sanctions was “crippling” for the Maduro regime.
Rubio said Venezuela’s oil industry is “nonexistent in the traditional form.”
“These oil fields are basically pirate operations,” he said. “People literally steal the oil from the ground, a handful of… that’s how they hold this regime together. A handful of cronies profit from this oil, from specific oil wells. They’re producing at like 18 percent capacity because all the equipment is decrepit and they basically pocket the money for their benefit. They sell the oil at a discount in the global markets, you know, 40 cents on the dollar, 50 cents on the dollar.”
“Those oil fields have not benefited the people of Venezuela in more than a decade. They have, but they have made billionaires, billionaires out of just a handful of people. And that is what has kept this regime together. That is what needs to be addressed,” he said.
Rubio said the administration will not change its sanctions policy until Venezuela’s oil industry benefits the Venezuelan people.
“The way to address it, for the benefit of the Venezuelan people, is to get private companies, not from Iran or anywhere else, to come in” and invest in the country’s infrastructure.
“The people who do this will know how to do it,” he said.
