Venezuela didn't steal U.S. oil. Here's what happened

Venezuela’s oil industry faces a precarious future despite possessing some of the world's largest reserves. While recent political rhetoric suggests American oil was "stolen," historical reality reveals a complex transition from the 1970s nationalization to the 2000s expropriations under Hugo Chávez. Francisco Monaldi, director of the Latin America Energy Program at Rice University, explains that while companies like Chevron negotiated stays, others like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips were seized, leaving Venezuela with billions in unpaid arbitration debts. Today, the nation produces less than one percent of global oil—a self-inflicted decline caused by a massive "brain drain" in 2002 when Chávez fired 20,000 technical experts. Although the country has the geological potential to rival Texas in production, the combination of heavy, sour crude, decaying infrastructure, and ongoing U.S. sanctions creates a high barrier for the massive foreign investment required for a true energy renaissance.