President Trump claims Venezuela stole American oil. Is that true? We trace Venezuela's oil industry from its 1920s birth through nationalization and then collapse. Today on the show, how did the Venezuelan oil industry get to a point where it’s barely pulling from its reserves? And will anything change now? Related episodes: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/01/03/nx-s1-5665743/venezuelas-economic-descent-updated"target="_blank" >Venezuela’s economic descent (Updated)</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/01/04/nx-s1-5666322/venezuela-hyperinflation-maduro-gonzalez"target="_blank" >Venezuela’s recent economic history (Update)</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1197960933/why-oil-in-guyana-could-be-a-curse"target="_blank" >Why oil in Guyana could be a curse</a> For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org</a>. Fact-checking by Julia Ritchey. Music by <a href="https://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/"target="_blank" >Drop Electric</a>. Find us: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@planetmoney"target="_blank" >TikTok</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/planetmoney/"target="_blank" >Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/planetmoney"target="_blank" >Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/money"target="_blank" >Newsletter</a>.   Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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