Business & Economics
U.S. Treasury Green-Lights American Exploration in Post-Maduro Venezuela
On 10 Feb 2026 Washington issued a sweeping general license letting U.S. companies ship equipment and services to start exploring, developing and producing Venezuelan oil and gas—marking the first formal opening of the country’s fields to American operators since sanctions began in 2019.
Focusing Facts
- General License (GL E&P-2026-01) signed 10 Feb 2026 authorizes U.S. goods, tech and software for upstream work but mandates disputes be settled in U.S. courts and revenues flow through U.S-controlled escrow.
- The license forbids any deals that involve Russian, Chinese, Cuban, Iranian or North-Korean entities and bars creation of new joint ventures with PDVSA.
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright is slated to land in Caracas before March to meet Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and tour Orinoco Belt fields.
Context
Washington’s move echoes the 2003 Coalition Provisional Authority’s fast-track oil decrees in Iraq—another regime-change setting where outside powers rushed to rehabilitate dilapidated wells under foreign legal frameworks. Strategically, the license signals a revival of 20th-century dollar-denominated “open door” energy policy in the Western Hemisphere, reinforcing the Monroe Doctrine logic while diverting barrels away from Russia, China and Cuba. It also revives the perennial tension between resource nationalism (Venezuela’s 1976 oil nationalization) and external capital seeking security of tenure. Over a 100-year arc, this episode may matter less for absolute supply—global demand is forecast to plateau by the 2040s—than for the precedent it sets: post-crisis hydrocarbon provinces can be placed under de facto foreign financial trusteeship, with environmental liabilities postponed. If cleanup costs and sovereignty frictions remain unaddressed, the opening could resemble the short-lived early-1990s Russian production-sharing agreements—high output spikes followed by political backlash—rather than a lasting realignment.
Perspectives
Right leaning US media
e.g., Washington Examiner — Cast Trump’s push to reopen Venezuela’s oil fields and Secretary Wright’s visit as a smart bid to lower U.S. fuel prices and stabilize the hemisphere. Largely echoes administration messaging, glossing over criticism about sovereignty, environmental harm, and the risk of undercutting domestic drillers.
Energy-industry watchdog / environmental outlets
e.g., OilPrice.com — Highlight that revitalizing Venezuela’s oil sector could worsen an enormous, decades-old ecological catastrophe and burden foreign firms with huge clean-up liabilities. Stresses environmental jeopardy while playing down economic recovery arguments and the geopolitical calculus driving U.S. policy.
Middle-Eastern international media
e.g., Al Bawaba, Al Arabiya — Describe U.S. licensing and interim oversight as de facto foreign control of Venezuela’s oil, redirecting crude toward Washington’s allies and squeezing rivals like Russia. Frames events chiefly as U.S. imperialism, mirroring regional power concerns and giving scant attention to Venezuelans’ views or potential benefits of investment.