Trump Sends Interior Secretary to Venezuela to Push Oil, Mining .

Trump Sends Interior Secretary to Venezuela to Push Oil, Mining ..................................

March 4, 2026 | bloomberg.com

Donald Trump deployed his Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to Venezuela on Wednesday as the president seeks to revive oil and mineral production in the South American country.

Burgum, who leads Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council, is expected to meet with officials including acting President Delcy Rodríguez along with mining and oil executives during the trip, a White House official said. He’s also expected to unveil an oil deal while in Venezuela, delivering an early affirmation of Trump’s bid to boost crude production in the country, the official said.

The trip to Caracas come as the US government steps up coordination with Venezuela’s interim government in the wake of the January capture of former President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump is pressing energy companies to spend about $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry, tapping its enormous crude reserves, among the world’s largest, to deliver revenue he says will benefit both Americans and Venezuelans.

Venezuela’s crude supplies have come into sharper focus amid the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran that have disrupted the production and flow of oil in the region, including through the Strait of Hormuz. The upheaval — and the threat of more — has already sent global futures surging 16% since the strikes began over the weekend.

Venezuela boasts vast mineral wealth too — from conventional coal to critical coltan, a metallic ore that can be refined to extract tantalum and niobium, which are coveted for use in electronics and aerospace. Burgum told Bloomberg last month that the government is preparing a separate license focused on authorizing mining activity.

Burgum is the latest senior US official to travel to Venezuela, following a February visit by Energy Secretary Chris Wright that focused closely on the country’s oil potential. Wright toured Venezuela’s Orinoco oil belt and, during a meeting with Rodriguez, discussed options for compensating energy companies that lost billions in the country when their assets were nationalized.

Venezuela Pumps a Lot Less Oil Than It Used To.

A handful of foreign companies still partner with PDVSA, but have refrained from investing after US sanctions were imposed.