Trump team eyeing Iraq oil playbook to revive Venezuela’s battered fields

As the Trump administration prepared to capture Maduro, officials studied how the Iraq invasion affected oil output, warning that Iraqi distrust of foreigners hindered production and suggesting that reviving Venezuela’s oil would hinge on trust-building and large-scale investment; Trump has pressed major and smaller oil firms to invest, while using a US-controlled account to manage proceeds, though it remains unclear how much Iraq lessons are guiding policy or if they’ll alter his approach.