Is it legal for Donald Trump to take Venezuelan oil

The deal, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, gives the U.S. government powerful governance rights, economic ownership, and guaranteed low-cost off-take from a new private Venezuelan oil champion, which ...

The administration of President Donald Trump lifted some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry on Thursday to make it easier for U.S. companies to sell its crude oil, and said more restrictions on the country would be lifted soon.

President Donald Trump said one reason that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela and “indefinitely” control its oil sales is because "years ago" Venezuela "took our oil away from us" and "stole our assets." That’s an oversimplification of what happened when Venezuela assumed greater control of its energy sector.

Experts disagreed on whether the seizure of land and assets, on the other hand, was legal, as an international tribunal determined Venezuela had not paid proper compensation to at least one affected company. However, the legal battles are not in relation to the oil itself, but to the other assets once owned by U.S. oil companies. On Dec. 17, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Venezuela "illegally took" U.S.

“Trump’s claim that Venezuela has stolen oil and land from the U.S. is baseless,” Francisco Rodríguez, a Venezuelan economist at the University of Denver, told The Washington Post.

But virtually everything Trump and his cabinet have said about the deal is false and misleading, according to the experts and officials who spoke with the Guardian. The Venezuelan law governing oil development does not allow for 100-year deals, ...

Analysts can trace the origins of Trump’s claim – decisions by previous Venezuelan governments to nationalise production – but they argue that the US has no legal claim to Venezuela’s oil.

Payments cannot go directly to sanctioned Venezuelan entities such as PDVSA, but must be sent instead to a special U.S.-controlled account. In other words, the U.S. will allow the oil trade but will control the cash flow.

WASHINGTON — U.S. companies will be allowed to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company after the Treasury Department eased sanctions, with some limitations, on Wednesday as the Trump administration looks for ways to ...

واشنطن- قال الرئيس ... إن مصادرة أصول شركات النفط الأميركية تبرر "حصارا كاملا وصارما" على ناقلت النفط القادمة والمغادرة من فنزويلا متحدية العقوبات الأميركية المفروضة عليها...

يريد الرئيس الأمريكي أن تبدأ شركات الطاقة الأمريكية في استخراج النفط الخام، لكنها مترددة.

ويقول المحللون إن ... في السوق. ولم يحدد المسؤولون الأمريكيون بعد إطارا قانونيًا للاستيلاء على النفط الفنزويلي، لكن...