A fresh round of tension is brewing between the U.S. and Venezuela after Stephen Miller, a close adviser to President Donald Trump, claimed that Venezuela’s oil essentially belongs to the United States.

The comments came right after Trump announced a “total and complete blockade” on sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela. Miller doubled down on the message on social media, arguing that U.S. companies “created” Venezuela’s oil industry and that nationalization amounted to the “largest theft of American wealth in history.”

That claim has raised eyebrows — and alarms — especially as the U.S. has recently built up its largest military presence near Venezuela in decades and carried out strikes at sea it says are related to drug trafficking. Critics argue there’s little evidence backing those claims and say the real motivation may be oil and regime pressure, not security.

So what’s the reality?

Venezuela does, in fact, sit on the largest proven oil reserves in the world — over 300 billion barrels. While U.S. companies helped develop the industry in the early 1900s, Venezuela legally nationalized its oil sector in 1976, creating state-run PDVSA. Under international law, natural resources belong to the country where they’re located — full stop.

There’s no legal basis for U.S. ownership claims today. International law clearly states that sovereign nations control their own resources, regardless of who helped develop them decades ago.

As for why any U.S. company is still there: Chevron operates through special waivers, partnering with PDVSA and accounting for about one-fifth of Venezuela’s oil output. Pulling out would likely mean losing billions in assets overnight.

Bottom line?
The rhetoric is loud, the stakes are high, but legally speaking, Venezuela owns its oil — and any attempt to claim otherwise would be a major breach of international law.