Venezuela’s Oil Belongs to the United States: White House

Controversial remarks by Stephen Miller, a close aide to President Donald Trump and the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, have further strained Washington–Caracas relations. Miller has claimed that Venezuela’s oil is, in fact, an asset of the United States, describing the South American country’s nationalisation of its oil industry as “theft.”

Stephen Miller made the remarks in a social media post on Wednesday. His comments have raised further questions about the Trump administration’s assertion that drug trafficking is the primary reason behind escalating tensions with Venezuela. In his post, Miller wrote, “Venezuela’s oil industry was built with the sweat, intelligence and labour of Americans.”

He added, “The seizure of this industry was the single largest theft of American assets and property in history. These stolen resources were later used to finance terrorism and to spread killers, mercenaries and drugs onto our streets.”

Under the principle of “permanent sovereignty over natural resources” in international law, however, oil located within Venezuela’s territory belongs to Venezuela. Although US and British companies were initially involved in oil exploration there, the country nationalised its oil sector in 1976, placing it under the state-owned company PDVSA.

According to Al Jazeera, in 2007 then leftist President Hugo Chávez nationalised the remaining foreign oil projects, forcing major oil companies such as ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil to effectively exit the country. The companies launched legal challenges against the move, and in 2014 a World Bank arbitration tribunal ordered Venezuela to pay ExxonMobil USD 1.6 billion in compensation. Legal proceedings on the matter are still ongoing.

During Trump’s first term, the United States imposed sanctions on PDVSA in 2019. Since returning to power for a second term in January this year, Trump has intensified his “maximum pressure” policy against Venezuela.

Amid this backdrop, Trump announced last Tuesday a blockade on Venezuelan oil tankers, declaring them “sanctioned.” Echoing Miller’s remarks on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Venezuela has stolen America’s oil.”

He further claimed, “Venezuela has been completely surrounded by the largest naval fleet in South American history.”

“The fleet will grow even larger,” Trump added, “and the impact they face will be unlike anything they have ever seen—until they return all the oil, land and other assets they stole from the United States.”