Rubio said the U.S. quarantine on Venezuelan oil remains in effect.
January 4, 2026, 12:49 PM
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the Trump administration is «pretty certain» that Western oil companies will be willing to return to Venezuela — but wouldn’t say if 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» anchor George Stephanopoulos. «This is about ensuring that no sanctioned oil can come in and out until they make changes to the governance of that entire industry,» he said.
Rubio noted that while he has not spoken to any American oil companies in the last few days, the White House is anticipating «dramatic interest from Western companies.»
«I think there would be tremendous demand and interest from private industry if given the space to do it, if given the opportunity to do it,» Rubio said of companies returning to operations in Venezuela. Currently, only one U.S. company — Chevron — operates within Venezuela under a special license.
The Guinea-flagged oil tanker MT Bandra, which is under sanctions, is partially seen alongside another vessel at El Palito terminal, near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, on Dec. 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 each day.
Rubio reiterated that despite the overthrow of Maduro, the U.S. was keeping in place its «quarantine» of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
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«If you are a sanctioned boat and you are headed towards Venezuela, you will be seized either on the way in or on the way out,» he said, adding that he believed the sanctions enforcement was «crippling» for the Maduro regime.
Rubio said Venezuela’s oil industry is «nonexistent in the traditional way.»
«These oil fields basically are 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 benefit from this oil — specific oil wells. They’re producing at like 18 percent capacity because the equipment is all decrepit and they basically pocket the money to their benefit. They sell the oil at a discount on 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 over a decade. They have — but they have made multimillionaires, billionaires out of just a handful of people. And that’s what’s held this regime together. That’s what needs to be addressed,» he said.
Rubio said the administration won’t change its sanctions policy until Venezuela’s oil industry benefits the Venezuelan people.
«The way to address it, to the benefit of the Venezuelan people, is to get private companies — that are not from Iran or somewhere else — to go in» and invest in the country’s infrastructure.
«The people who do this stuff will know how to do it,» he said.
