Trump’s Friends Are Already Signing Deals to Take Venezuela’s Oil

Read the original at Mother Jones ↗
Mother Jones · collected 2026-09-17 · by Alex Nguyen

Quick Summary

Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced on Wednesday that Harold Hamm, an oil tycoon and close ally of former President Donald Trump, has signed a preliminary deal with PDVSA, Venezuela’s national oil company. The agreement allows Continental Resources to develop 126,000 acres of Venezuelan oil fields, estimated at 30 billion barrels of oil. This comes after Chevron invested $7 billion in the country and amid reports that ExxonMobil is close to signing a deal involving over 50 billion barrels of oil reserves. Critics argue that these deals benefit Trump’s associates rather than addressing Venezuela's economic or energy crises.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-20, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced at the G20 energy summit this week that Continental Resources, a company closely aligned with President Trump due to its CEO Harold Hamm's business and political ties to the president, has reached a preliminary deal with PDVSA, Venezuela’s state oil company. This agreement allows Continental Resources to develop and operate 126,000 acres of oil fields in Venezuela, potentially unlocking an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil. Hamm personally contributed $4.3 million to Trump-aligned PACs for the 2024 election campaign.

Meanwhile, Democrats on key House committees are pressing the Trump administration for information about the involvement of Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt in these deals. They expressed concern over potential collaboration with an individual alleged to have a history of white-collar misdeeds and asked for details regarding US officials' efforts to intervene in international money laundering investigations involving Betancourt.

Chevron, another major US oil company, recently invested $7 billion to expand its operations in Venezuela, aiming to double production to 600,000 barrels per day. The growing interest from American companies signals a shift in the relationship between the US and Venezuela despite lingering uncertainty and challenges surrounding investment and political stability in the country.

Written for “Venezuela Oil Deal” on 2026-10-14, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Venezuela Oil Deal
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 7% hedged 2 of 30 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles discuss different events related to energy and politics but do not describe the same specific incident.”
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“Article A discusses an invitation to a G-20 energy summit in Houston, while Article B reports on a specific oil deal between a US company and Venezuela's national oil company.”
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“The articles describe different events: one about redirecting military aid to American nations and the other about an oil deal in Venezuela.”
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“The articles describe different events related to energy policy and deals, one about tariffs against Russian oil buyers and another about an oil deal with Venezuela.”
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Semafor
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“Both articles discuss the same oil deal involving Venezuela's national oil company PDVSA and a US petroleum and natural gas production company, with mentions of Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Trump allies.”
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The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 9% hedged 1 of 11 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A discusses an oil deal between Trump's ally and Venezuela's national oil company, while Article B reports on a planned meeting between Trump and Venezuela's interim President in New York.”
Trump’s oil-price dilemma: Letters to the Editor — Sept. 18, 2026 different event · 90%
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this 🔴 11% hedged 3 of 27 📰 publisher trust 67
“Article A describes Trump ally Harold Hamm's deal with Venezuela, whereas Article B discusses criticism of President Trump regarding oil prices and a war in Iran.”

Cite this article

Nguyen, A. (2026, September 17). Trump’s Friends Are Already Signing Deals to Take Venezuela’s Oil. Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/trump-venezuela-chevron-exxonmobil-continental-oil-deal/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
11
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
1 of 11 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
95/100
Mother Jones's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Mother Jones · 281 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Alex Nguyen
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 32 articles by Alex Nguyen →

Topics

American Continental Resources Exxon Venezuela the Trump administration

Subjects

Venezuela GPE · 9× Trump PERSON · 5× Continental Resources ORG · 3× American NORP · 2× Exxon ORG · 2× Hamm PERSON · 2× the Trump administration ORG · 2× Chris Wright PERSON · 1× Energy ORG · 1× Harold Hamm PERSON · 1×

Narrative

While some oil executives remain hesitant to invest in Venezuelan oil due to the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s August deal with the country, the challenges of scaling up production, and the chaotic relationship between the US and Venezuela, it’s become more clear that it has opened the door for his friends and other wealthy companies to invest in the country’s massive oil reserves.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20
🔮 On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that ExxonMobil is close to signing its own deal with Venezuela, which could be completed as early as the end of this month and include more than 50 billion barrels in oil reserves (Venezuela says it has about 300 billion barrels in total reserves).
2026-09-20 · Mother Jones
Trump’s Friends Are Already Signing Deals to Take Venezuela’s Oil · assertive framing

Claims (11 extracted, 1 hedged)

“It’s a milestone deal in making the Western Hemisphere the center of the global energy system,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday. asserted
Wright → ’ → Wednesday
He was talking about a fellow Trump ally’s oil deal with Venezuela: oil tycoon Harold Hamm of Continental Resources, a US petroleum and natural gas production company, who announced a preliminary deal with PDVSA, Venezuela’s national oil company, that same day. asserted
who → talk → PDVSA
The agreement, which allows Continental Resources to develop and operate 126,000 acres of oil fields—an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil—was presented by Hamm, with Wright beside him, at this week’s G20 energy summit in Houston. asserted
Resources → allow → Houston
Hamm is in Trump’s inner circle and has advised the president on energy issues to benefit his business ventures, including fracking, and personally contributed $4.3 million to Trump-aligned PACs for his 2024 election campaign. asserted
Hamm → advise → campaign
The deal comes after Chevron became the first known major US oil company earlier this month to expand production in Venezuela since the Trump administration seized President Nicolás Maduro in January, investing $7 billion over five years to more than double its production to 600,000 barrels a day. asserted
administration → come → barrels
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that ExxonMobil is close to signing its own deal with Venezuela, which could be completed as early as the end of this month and include more than 50 billion barrels in oil reserves (Venezuela says it has about 300 billion barrels in total reserves). uncertain
it → report → reserves
The potential Exxon deal is notable as the company has repeatedly tried to win more money in restitution after former Venezuela President Hugo Chávez nationalized major foreign oil operations in 2007, forcing Exxon to abandon its Venezuela projects. asserted
Chávez → try → projects
While some oil executives remain hesitant to invest in Venezuelan oil due to the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s August deal with the country, the challenges of scaling up production, and the chaotic relationship between the US and Venezuela, it’s become more clear that it has opened the door for his friends and other wealthy companies to invest in the country’s massive oil reserves. asserted
friends → remain → reserves
Since the Trump administration captured Maduro, acting President Delcy Rodríguez has overhauled regulations on oil to encourage outside investment, including lowering tax rates on production. asserted
Rodríguez → capture → production
Continental Resources cited these changes as a major reason to pursue its oil deal. asserted
Resources → cite → deal
As Jeff Colgan, a political science professor at Brown University, told me earlier this month, the winners of Trump’s oil agreement won’t lower gas prices for American consumers or help everyday Venezuela residents—it will just “line the pockets of some American companies.” asserted
it → tell → companies
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