Late Tuesday, January 6th, President Trump announced at the Annual Republican House lawmaker’s retreat that Venezuela would provide 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. According to President Trump, the oil could be worth as much as $2.8 billion.

According to information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States uses 20.25 million barrels of petroleum per day, meaning the Venezuelan oil would provide roughly two and a half days of supply. Venezuela produces about 1 million barrels per day, roughly two tenths of the U.S. usage, and roughly two sevenths of the United States’s daily production.

According to AP News President Trump has pledged that all proceeds will be used to “benefit the people” of both nations (Cano, Madhani, Janetsky, Jan 6). Trump met with leaders of Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips on Friday the 9th to discuss the Venezuelan oil. Many oil executives expressed their support for Trump’s actions in Venezuela, and many seemed ready to invest in the nation’s oil infrastructure.

“It would be premature to speculate on any future business activities or investments,” a Conoco spokesperson said according to The Guardian. Trump had stated at a press conference that “our very large United States oil companies” were ready to “go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure and start making money for the country” (Callum Jones, Jan 6th).

According to 2023 data from the OPEC, Venezuela has 303 billion barrels of oil, meaning the nation has nearly one-fifth of the world’s proven crude oil reserves.