A US State Department team traveled to Venezuela on Friday for the first time since the ouster of Nicolas Maduro, according to a US official.

After arresting Venezuela's president, Trump and top U.S. officials warned other countries could be the targets of American intervention next.

The tepid reception from the industry threatens to further complicate Trump’s unprecedented intervention in Venezuela, which he envisions as a yearslong entanglement aimed at remaking both its political leadership and its oil-centric economy.

A flotilla of about a dozen loaded vessels and at least three other empty ships left Venezuelan waters last month in apparent defiance of an embargo imposed by Trump.

The president wants U.S. oil companies to return in a big way, but the petrostate’s turbulent history suggests formidable challenges ahead.

Exxon, ConocoPhillips (COP.N) and Chevron were for decades the most prominent partners of state company PDVSA, contributing to developing output at the vast Orinoco Belt, which is now the country's main oil region.

The U.S. is looking at potentially lifting long-installed sanctions on Venezuela as the Trump administration seeks to tap into the South American nation's oil reserves, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The secretary of State has privately signaled he may not run for president in 2028, but he’s changed his mind on such matters before.

The U.S. has seized the Olina tanker in the Caribbean, the fifth vessel targeted in recent weeks as Washington steps up efforts to curb Venezuelan oil exports, U.S. officials said on Friday.