Venezuela, one of OPEC’s five founding members, is in discussions with the United States about a potential exit from the oil cartel. The talks come as the Trump administration pushes to secure long-term leasing arrangements for Venezuelan oil fields, a deal that would be far easier to execute without OPEC production constraints hanging over the arrangement.
The UAE already left OPEC and OPEC+ effective May 1, 2026. If Venezuela follows, it would mark the second departure from the organization in a matter of months, and this time it would be a country that literally helped create the thing back in 1960.
What Washington wants
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to roughly 289.7 million barrels, a level not seen in approximately 40 years.
Venezuela sits on the planet’s largest proven oil reserves, yet it’s currently pumping only about 1 million barrels per day. Years of sanctions, underinvestment, and political turmoil have turned what should be one of the world’s great oil producers into a cautionary tale about squandered geological gifts.
