People walk on a beach in front of an oil tanker anchored at the dock near the “El Palito” refinery, in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, on Dec. 18, 2025. Jesus Vargas/Getty Images
President Donald Trump has encouraged American oil companies to reinvest $100 billion in Venezuela to spur energy production and to rescue Venezuelans from desperate poverty.
Oil companies, however, are taking stock of the decrepit state of Venezuela’s energy infrastructure after decades of communism, and seeing a number of critical impediments.
