President Donald Trump said that the U.S. is receiving massive volumes of crude oil from Venezuela following the “flawless” military operation earlier this month, which led to the capture of the country’s President, Nicolás Maduro.
’50 Million Barrels’ of Crude Oil On A ‘Daily Basis’
Speaking at the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday, Trump said that the recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela “was as flawless as an attack as there has ever been.”
Trump claimed the operation has opened the door to enormous oil shipments from the Latin American nation, saying, “we are taking in millions and millions of barrels of oil,” adding that on a “daily basis,” the U.S. was taking in “50 million barrels,” which he said will bring “oil prices down further.”
“Winning is a good thing,” Trump said, while noting that his administration was going to work with Venezuela to “make that country strong again.”
Trump also said that the American economy was in the midst of a historic boom, with rising investments and record stock market levels, thanks to his tariffs during an hour-long speech in Detroit.
However, the figures cited by Trump appear implausible, given that total global crude oil production averaged about 106.3 million barrels per day in 2025, according to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, making a single country supplying nearly half of that amount highly unlikely.
Moreover, Venezuela’s peak oil output, in the early 2000s, stood at just 3 million barrels per day, and has since slipped to around 950,000 barrels per day in late 2025.
Experts Skeptical of Trump’s Venezuela Plans
Last week, Trump claimed that the Venezuelan government would be turning over anywhere between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. in what was likely a one-time transfer.
Trump said he would be controlling the proceeds that come from this oil, which he said would be used to “benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States.”
Experts remain skeptical of Trump’s vision for the South American nation, with Economist Paul Krugman saying last week, “whatever it is we’re doing in Venezuela isn’t really a war for oil,” and was instead a war for “oil fantasies.”
Krugman pointed to the low current oil prices relative to historic standards, along with the high breakeven price of Venezuela’s extra heavy crude, which he said was “more than $80,” while concluding that Trump’s plans for the nation’s vast energy “would be an unrealistic fantasy.”
During a meeting with Trump at the White House last week, U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp.’s (NYSE:XOM) CEO Darren Woods referred to Venezuela as being currently “uninvestable,” citing past instances of the company’s assets being confiscated by the nation’s government.
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