Fox News’ claim that seizing Venezuelan oil is an economic boon for the U.S. is premature at best. Experts say it will take a decade and tens of billions of dollars to restore oil production in Venezuela. And regarding its impact on U.S. gas prices, Patrick De Haan, lead petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, wrote: “Even under the most optimistic outcomes, it could take years of positive developments for additional supply to meaningfully move the needle, and the impact on U.S. gasoline prices may ultimately be limited.”

• Fox Business correspondent Lauren Simonetti: If U.S. companies extract Venezuela’s oil, it will be “great for inflation, and affordability, and drivers, and businesses.” [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 1/5/26]
• Fox Business host Charles Payne: U.S. ouster of Maduro is “absolutely phenomenal on every level. It’s economic, it’s political. … We all should be cheering.” Responding to Secretary of State Marco Rubio's explanation of the supposed reasoning for America taking over Venezuela's oil industry, Payne excitedly discussed Venezuela's vast oil reserves and lamented that “they ruined their industry.” Payne continued: “On our side of the ledger it's phenomenal. You know, we refine heavy crude, that's what they pump out of Venezuela.” Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt added: “How can we make sure some of that comes here?” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/5/26]
• Fox anchor Martha MacCallum: Trump is looking at Venezuela “holistically, because he is concerned about the U.S. economy. … Lower energy prices will help to bring down inflation and every other cost for Americans across the country. And that is clearly part of his goal here.” [Fox News, America Reports, 1/5/26]
• Fox Business correspondent Edward Lawrence: Analysts say “the ousting of Nicolás Maduro” could “be good for gas prices in the U.S. long-term.” He continued: “If you add a steady supply of Venezuelan oil to the global market, it reduces oil prices per barrel. And that reduces gas prices in the United States.” [Fox News, America Reports, 1/5/26]
• Fox host Jesse Watters on Venezuela: “Once American companies produce what's rightfully theirs, energy prices go even lower, and so does inflation.” Watters continued: “It also means the Chinese will be buying the oil from us. The Iranians, they lose a customer, and low prices starve Putin's war machine in Ukraine. The American and Venezuelan people can both make money now, and we don't have to worry about a failed narco state on our doorstep.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 1/5/26]
• Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade: Venezuela’s oil could cause the U.S. economy to “thrive if gas prices are low, because people would drive more and take part in it.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/6/26]
• Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt on Venezuela: “Several things that have happened here which are all good for America. … Maybe Exxon and American companies who have invested there who are owed billions of dollars will get their money. So, there is so many benefits for Americans here.” Earhardt added: “There is so much oil. More oil than there is in Saudi Arabia. It's just mismanaged.” She continued: “All that oil, most of it, goes to other countries. If that — if some of that oil, America can tap into it, that's another benefit.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/6/26]
• Fox anchor Martha MacCallum: Because of Trump’s ouster of Maduro, “the opportunity for lower energy prices in the United States is now present.” MacCallum argued to Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) that he should have supported the ouster of Maduro if Trump explained that it could lead to “lower oil prices and gas prices here in the United States.” [Fox News, America Reports, 1/6/26]
• Fox host Jesse Watters mocked Democrats’ reaction to Trump’s ouster of Maduro: “They are mad that we are taking the oil? What do you think this economy runs on, solar panels?” Watters added: “Americans spent a decade” in Iraq “and we walked away with next to nothing. Not anymore.” He continued: “Trump says take the oil. Democrats call that imperialistic. We call it common sense.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 1/6/26]
• Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo congratulated Trump for “putting more oil on the global market” to lower oil prices. Bartiromo added: “That also … goes directly at his approach on affordability for the domestic economy.” Guest Lee Carter agreed, saying there are “benefits that are coming to the American people. And the affordability crisis is real. If they start seeing how this translates to prices in their pocketbooks, this is going to be a real win for the president.” [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria, 1/7/26]
• Fox Business contributor Phil Flynn: The U.S. controlling Venezuela’s oil “is going to bring down gasoline prices for America.” Fox host Griff Jenkins responded: “Our viewers just heard the important part there, bringing prices down here.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/8/26]

In November 2022, the Biden administration granted Chevron a permit “to produce and export oil from Venezuela following the South American country’s decision to restart talks with opposition groups.” In response to this move, Fox attacked Biden for relying on oil from a foreign country instead of investing more in U.S. oil reserves (even while U.S. production was at an all time high), pointed out that producing more oil in Venezuela would take significant monetary and time investments, and even suggested that crude from Venezuela should be rejected on environmental grounds.

Indeed, Venezuela heavy crude oil is considered among the world’s “dirtiest” due to its “high sulfur and low hydrogen content,” and “it’s also more energy intensive to extract, generating far more carbon dioxide emissions than lighter oils.”

• Fox contributor Karl Rove: Biden reaching out to Venezuela for oil is “crazy, isn't it? We produce energy, oil and gas hydrocarbons, better than anybody else in the world if you measure it by emissions.” Rove continued: “We are the cleanest, most environmentally sensitive country in production. So let's go to Venezuela where they’ve got no environmental standards.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 10/6/22]
• Fox host Will Cain criticized Biden considering a license for Venezuelan oil in part because it’s “counterproductive to your climate change goals.” Cain said: “You are talking about a dirtier form of oil and gas than the ones we are producing here at home.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 10/7/22]
• Fox Business host Larry Kudlow criticized Biden for considering giving Chevron permission to pump Venezuelan oil: “We would rather have this guy Maduro produce oil, which by the way is the dirtiest oil in the world, disgusting, terrible oil. Ours is the cleanest oil in the world.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 10/7/22]
• Fox Business host Charles Payne criticized Biden granting Chevron a limited license to produce Venezuelan oil, calling it “nonsensical” and saying he “has gone to war with American oil producers.” Payne added: “It’s not going to work, I mean, this so-called limited license. Their oil industry is so broken down because they chased out the American engineers, they chased out American know-how. It’s a wreck, it’s an absolute wreck. It would take billions of dollars to bring it up to speed.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 11/28/22]
• Fox host Sean Hannity criticized Biden for letting Chevron pump Venezuelan oil: “We do it cleaner, we do it faster, we do it cheaper.” He continued: “For example, drilling for oil in Venezuela and in the Middle East is far worse for the climate than producing it right here at home.” [Fox News, Hannity, 11/28/22]
• Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy criticized Biden: “Now rather than produce oil here in the United States, expand production here in the United States, going to Venezuela.” Doocy added: “Their infrastructure down there is shot. It’s going to take like $50 billion to fix it up. We’re going to get like 20-30,000 barrels a day, which is a drop in the world oil bucket.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 11/29/22]