UAE's energy company weighs investing in Venezuela as Trump scours for partners: Report Submitted by MEE staff on Fri, 01/16/2026 - 21:19 Adnoc was previously part of conversations about investing in Gaza's gas, MEE reported, as Trump links diplomacy and business Guests stand at the booth of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference in Abu Dhabi, on 3 November 2025 (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP) Off The UAE ’s state-owned oil giant is weighing entry into Venezuela’s energy industry at a time when some US energy companies have expressed reservations about the move to US President Donald Trump. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is discussing investing in natural gas projects in Venezuela with another international producer, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The talks are preliminary. If Adnoc did enter Venezuela, it would likely endear the UAE to Trump. The US president says he wants American energy companies to “spend billions of dollars” to fix Venezuela’s energy infrastructure and extract oil out from the country. While smaller US operators have shown interest, some of the US's big oil companies have been reluctant. Trump lashed out at Exxon Mobil last week after the company’s CEO said during a public meeting on Venezuela that his company did not think the investment environment was suitable in the Latin American country. Adnoc may have the “swashbuckling” attitude that experts tell Middle East Eye big US energy companies lack. MEE revealed in December that Adnoc was part of discussions between US, Israeli and Emirati officials over how to jumpstart investment and reconstruction in the destroyed Gaza Strip. One idea floated was for Adnoc to take a stake in Gaza’s undeveloped gas fields, and those funds would contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza. US, Israel and UAE discussed using Gaza gas to fund reconstruction, sources say Read More » Trump says he will personally control the proceeds from the sale of tens of millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil. The Financial Times reported on Friday that the first batch of Venezuelan crude was sold by the US to a company whose senior oil trader donated to Trump’s re-election campaign. Interest from the UAE is likely to be welcomed by the Trump administration. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that the US could lift some sanctions on Venezuela to spur investor interest. Bloomberg reported that XRG, Adnoc’s international investment branch, would use Abu Dhabi’s oil revenue to finance “the billions of dollars needed to revive Venezuela’s production” of natural gas. Venezuela has more oil than any country in the world, with around 17 percent of global reserves, but it also holds more than two-thirds of South America’s gas reserves. Much of Venezuela’s natural gas is lost by “flaring”, a process by which natural gas is burned when oil is extracted. Capturing that gas involved costly infrastructure investments. Venezuela was producing around 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil before the US attack on the country. That number stood at around three million bpd in the late 1990s when Venezuela was an energy powerhouse, and Caracas was a boom city defined by vast disparities in wealth. Venezuela’s oil industry went into steep decline after Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1998. He vowed to use the country’s oil riches to readdress Venezuela’s wealth gap, tapping a blend of socialism, nationalism and populism called Chavismo. The US began sanctioning Venezuela in 2005, targeting its military and government officials. Sanctions hit its oil industry with full force starting in 2017, and over the last ten years, it has entered terminal decline. Venezuela crisis News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0