Companies like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips say that Venezuela owes them billions of dollars for confiscating their assets two decades ago.

The world is producing more oil than it needs, so 2026 prices are expected to be lower. The question is how low a barrel will get. “$50 to $60 range is what most are seeing. Now some are calling for prices to dip into the $40s,” said Garrett Golding with the Dallas Fed.

Despite holding the world’s largest proven oil reserves, Venezuela’s oil industry collapsed after expropriations, mismanagement, and the loss of foreign expertise left it unable to produce its technically demanding heavy crude at scale.

The Trump administration said it had an agreement with Venezuela’s government, but the country’s state-owned oil company said negotiations were underway.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Robert Rapier is a chemical engineer covering the energy sector. This article is more than 2 years old. CRANE, TEXAS - MARCH 12: In an aerial view, an oil pumpjack works in the Permian ...

HighPeak Energy outlook: low oil prices may curb 2026 drilling, but $70+ WTI in 2027 could stabilize production and enable refinancing. See more on HPK here.

Ukraine said its drones struck the largest Russian gas processing plant in the Orenburg region, which also processes gas from Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field.

A man carries buckets while working to clean up an oil spill near a pipeline of state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) in Voladero, Monagas state, Venezuela, on November 5, 2021. - Leaks, rusted pipes, pieces of broken equipment scattered about and ...

Archaeologists unearthed the Roman Empire’s second-largest olive oil processing complex in Tunisia. The find sheds light on the region’s central role in olive oil production and trade, and in turn the agricultural, economic, and daily life systems from ...