Trump’s claims about drilling, Venezuelan oil imports contradict data
At a campaign event in Corpus Christi, Texas, President Donald Trump again touted Venezuelan oil over U.S. oil.
He also reiterated his campaign pledge that he would “unleash American energy” and U.S. companies would “drill, baby, drill” to extract more oil and gas. “Man, are we drilling now,” he said.
Throughout most of his administration, rig counts in Texas have been down, according to Baker Hughes data, The Center Square has reported. For the week ending Oct. 23, Texas’ rig count was 277, down from the previous week and from two weeks earlier.
Rig counts and drilling are tied to jobs in the upstream sector, the part of the industry that extracts crude oil and natural gas. Under Trump, the Texas upstream sector has consistently reported job losses — attributed to increased costs stemming from operators shutting down rigs, citing Trump tariff policies and the conflict with Iran, The Center Square reported.
Trump also announced the first one million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil arrived in Texas this week “at no cost to the United States or American taxpayer.” He said it will support American jobs, replenish reserves, increase domestic supply and reduce gas prices.
After deposing Venezuela’s president earlier this year, the administration took economic ownership of the nation’s oil production, claiming it was the “biggest oil deal in world history.” The U.S. will control more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil, it says.
Texas oil and gas industry leaders provided context to Trump’s claims.
For large Gulf Coast refineries that process 100,000 to 200,00 barrels a day, one million barrels equates to roughly one week supply of oil, Heywood Cooper, president of Houston-based refinery developer/contractor, Argos Minerals Inc., told The Center Square.
When it comes to rig counts, drilling and jobs, companies aren’t investing in drilling new wells because costs increase as oil prices increase, he said.
With record high prices under the Trump administration, it’s more expensive to drill and operate than it was two years ago, Cooper said. “If you drill a well today at $100-$110/barrel and the price of oil later falls to $60-$70/barrel, it negatively effects the payout of the well.”
In February, the Texas upstream sector reported 1,200 job losses in one month. In March, oil topped $120 a barrel. The industry continued to report job losses.
Cooper, who’s been in the Texas oil and gas business for more than 30 years, also explained that Venezuelan oil isn’t the same as Texas oil. “Venezuelan crude oil is too heavy and has to have its viscosity raised, and naphtha has to be added to it in order to effect pipeline movements and shipping.” Naphtha is an industrial hydrocarbon liquid mixture.
Importing Venezuelan oil will eventually help strengthen the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but the best way to increase drilling is to reduce costs, he said.
Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association, agreed. He told The Center Square that the one million barrels of Venezuelan crude imported to Texas “is a small volume relative to U.S. consumption of more than 20 million barrels per day and will not meaningfully reduce retail gasoline prices in the near term.
“Pump prices are being driven by global crude markets that remain tight because of the disruption in the Middle East. Venezuelan crude is generally heavy and sour, with low API gravity and elevated sulfur content,” Longanecker said. “Most U.S. production, particularly from the Permian and other shale plays, is light and sweet. Many Gulf Coast refineries were configured decades ago to process heavier imported grades and include coking capacity that converts residual material into higher-value products. Light shale barrels do not fully utilize that configuration, which is why the United States continues to import heavy crude even while exporting light crude. The near-term benefit to Texas is concentrated among Gulf Coast refiners equipped to run these barrels.”
He also pointed to Baker Hughes data showing that Texas’ rig count was down.
“Operators respond to prices, costs, and capital discipline rather than short-term announcements,” Longanecker said. “Sustained growth in domestic production requires competitive fiscal and regulatory conditions that allow U.S. producers to invest.”
Expanding refining capacity in Texas “would do more to improve product supply and price stability than incremental heavy imports. U.S. operable capacity stood at about 18.2 million barrels per day at the start of 2026, down roughly 1% from a year earlier after refinery closures, and utilization has run above 90 percent,” he continued.
Earlier this month, Vice President JD Vance said the administration was providing up to $150 million in federal funding to advance refining capacity, The Center Square reported.
This commitment “is a step toward addressing that constraint, but meaningful new capacity takes time and substantially more capital,” Longanecker explained. “The clearest path to lower costs, stronger domestic supply, and energy security remains policies that prioritize domestic extraction, streamline permitting, and expand the ability of U.S. refiners to process the full range of American crude.”
Houston-based Andy Lipow with Lipow Oil Associates LLC added, “While Venezuelan crude oil might be very heavy compared to most of the crude oil produced in the U.S., its production is part of the world’s supply. Decades ago, before the U.S. oil boom, refineries invested to process and upgrade Venezuelan crude oil into transportation fuels.
“At its peak, USA refineries imported nearly 1.4 million barrels per day of Venezuelan crude oil in 1997,” Lipow said, citing U.S. Energy Information Agency data.
While new refineries haven’ been built in the U.S. since the 1970s and some refineries have been shuttered for a variety of reasons, other refineries have been expanding their existing facilities including Citgo and Marathon on the Gulf Coast, he added.
There are other projects underway to expand refinery capacity in the next few years in the U.S., he said. The cost to build a new refinery is roughly $10 billion.
“Gulf Coast refineries are already supplying the domestic market with gasoline and diesel fuel. Any additional refining capacity on the Gulf Coast will increase refined product exports,” Lipow told The Center Square. “Oil producers invest in places where they will get a return on that investment.”
The industry will ultimately decide if it “should it export crude oil or build refineries and export products,” he said. “The answer is currently to export crude oil.”
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