Shares of U.S. energy companies climbed sharply in premarket trading on Monday, as investors positioned for the possibility that President Donald Trump’s actions against Venezuela’s leadership could open the door for greater American involvement in the country holding the world’s largest oil reserves.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX), currently the only U.S. oil major with operations in Venezuelan oil fields, saw its shares rise 7.3%. Refining companies also posted strong gains, with Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC), Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) and PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) advancing between roughly 5% and 16%.
The rally followed comments from Trump indicating that the United States was seeking “total access” to Venezuela’s oil reserves after the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro, fueling speculation that Washington could relax restrictions on Venezuelan crude exports.
“We’re going to have our very large U.S. oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” Trump said on Saturday.
Venezuela’s oil output once reached about 3.5 million barrels per day in the 1970s, representing more than 7% of global production. Output fell below 2 million barrels per day during the 2010s and averaged roughly 1.1 million barrels per day last year—around 1% of global supply—after prolonged underinvestment and the impact of international sanctions.
The country’s crude is typically heavy and high in sulfur, making it particularly suitable for producing diesel and other heavier fuels, though often at lower margins than lighter grades, especially those from the Middle East.
“This type of crude aligns well with the configuration of U.S. Gulf Coast refineries which were historically designed to process such grades,” said Ahmad Assiri, research strategist at Pepperstone.
Chevron’s established foothold in Venezuela under a U.S. waiver positions it as a likely early beneficiary of any policy changes, while refiners could benefit from increased access to heavy crude supplies closer to home. However, analysts warned that a significant rebound in Venezuelan oil production would likely be gradual, given ongoing political uncertainty, deteriorated infrastructure and years of limited investment.