The Peter Zeihan Podcast Series Venezuela Offers Trump an Oil Bribe || Peter Zeihan
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Jan 14, 2026 Venezuela's leadership is making headlines with a bold offer of 30-50 million barrels of oil to President Trump, viewed as a blatant political bribe. The motivations behind this move are tied to securing U.S. recognition and protection amidst a dire economic situation. As exports face steep challenges, Venezuelan oil tanks are nearing capacity. This raises urgent legal and ethical dilemmas for the U.S. regarding sanctioned crude, while the impending collapse of Venezuelan oil production looms without international buyers.
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Venezuela's Oil Offer Is A Political Bribe
- Peter Zeihan calls Venezuela's offered oil to Trump an overt political bribe and says it's unusual for a sitting U.S. president to boast about it.
- He frames Delcy Rodríguez's move as seeking U.S. recognition to legitimize her grip on power.
Flow Constraints Threaten Venezuelan Production
- Zeihan explains how oil systems require continuous flow from production to refining and that storage is limited, especially for exporters.
- He emphasizes Venezuela's tanks are filling and without exports they'll have to shut wells down within days.
Huge Backlog Drives The 30–50M Barrel Figure
- Venezuela's exports collapsed from ~3 million to under 1 million barrels per day, leaving many idle storage tanks now nearly full.
- The 30–50 million barrels figure reflects urgent excess crude they need to move or face shutdowns.