Sen. Ted Cruz says Texas oil companies ready to invest in post-Maduro Venezuela
During an appearance in Fort Worth on Monday, Sen. Ted Cruz said it was a good thing the U.S. military apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, calling the South American leader a “dictator.”
Cruz added that Texas oil and gas companies stood ready to invest billions in Venezuela, home to the largest proven oil reserves in the world.
Those remarks came while Cruz spoke briefly to the media at Lockheed Martin’s F-35 production plant following a speech by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Hegseth was in Fort Worth as part of his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour, which is taking him to defense manufacturing facilities around the country.
After a U.S. military operation successfully extracted Maduro from his compound in Caracas, President Donald Trump said the U.S. would administer Venezuela and facilitate the export of between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S.
Maduro is awaiting trial in federal court in New York City on charges related to narcotics trafficking.
The Star-Telegram reached out to two Fort Worth-based oil and gas companies for comment on how the U.S. presence in Venezuela might impact local producers, but neither has responded.
Kyle Reynolds, president of the American Association of Professional Landmen, which supports and advocates for the people who secure leases for oil and gas exploration, cautioned that it could take time for U.S. firms to benefit from Venezuelan oil.
“While the American Association of Professional Landmen is currently being advised by our governmental affairs staff that it will likely take a significant financial investment and many years to upgrade Venezuela’s infrastructure to a point where it impacts U.S. oil production, we remain vigilant and are prepared to support our members in any way that we can to help the careers that have led to the United States’ current position of energy dominance,” Reynolds said.
On Jan. 9, representatives from more than a dozen oil and gas companies met with Trump at the White House. Trump later said U.S. oil companies will invest a minimum of $100 billion in Venezuela, although ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said he wasn’t keen to pour money into the country.
“If we look at the legal and commercial constructs — frameworks — in place today in Venezuela, today it’s uninvestable,” Woods told Trump, drawing the president’s ire.
Woods said “significant changes” have to be made in Venezuela before ExxonMobil would feel comfortable investing in its oil infrastructure.
Twice — once in the 1970s and again in the mid 2000s — Venezuela nationalized its oil industry. In 2007, ExxonMobil exited the country, accusing the Venezuelan government of seizing its assets.
After Woods’ remarks, Trump said he might keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela.
This story was originally published January 12, 2026 at 5:18 PM.