Trump says Venezuela stole American oil. Here's what really happened.
CBS News••nation
Key Points:
- President Trump justified the military operation capturing Nicolás Maduro partly by claiming Venezuela stole American oil assets, though Venezuela's constitution states all oil reserves belong to the Venezuelan government, not foreign companies.
- U.S. oil companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips had contracts to extract and share revenue from Venezuelan oil but lost assets after Hugo Chávez nationalized the sector in 2007, leading to ongoing lawsuits and billions owed to these companies.
- Venezuela's oil production has drastically declined from over 3 million barrels per day in the early 2000s to under 1 million today due to mismanagement, underinvestment, and sanctions, despite holding the world's largest oil reserves.
- The U.S. plans to export 30 to 50
