Venezuelan Oil and the Limits of U.S. Refining Capacity
This story raises questions about governance, accountability, and American values.
The mainstream framing treats Venezuela as a missed business opportunity, as if the only hurdle is executive “pitch” quality. But the executives’ blunt verdict, “uninvestable,” is the story. You cannot spreadsheet your way around a regime that rewrites rules, seizes assets, and dares companies to sue later.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Venezuela pitch to oil executives to invest the vast sums required to revive the country’s flagging oil sector proved largely ineffectual. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) CEO Darren Woods offered the starkest assessment, calling the South American country “uninvestable” under its current commercial frameworks and hydrocarbon laws, while ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) CEO Ryan Lance also gave Trump a reality check, informing him his company lost billions of dollars when it exited the country under
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
The mainstream framing treats Venezuela as a missed business opportunity, as if the only hurdle is executive “pitch” quality. But the executives’ blunt verdict, “uninvestable,” is the story. You cannot spreadsheet your way around a regime that rewrites rules, seizes assets, and dares companies to sue later.
What gets lost is the conservative concern that property rights and rule of law are not nice-to-haves. They are prerequisites. If Venezuela’s hydrocarbon laws and courts can’t credibly protect capital, asking U.S. firms to gamble billions is not “energy diplomacy.” It is outsourcing risk to shareholders and, eventually, to American consumers.
There’s also refining reality. Not every barrel fits our system, and forcing dependence on hostile or unstable suppliers undermines national security and public trust.
The principle is simple: energy strategy should be built on reliable partners, stable contracts, and American capacity, not wishful thinking about Caracas.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.