Trump wants to own Venezuela’s oil, but its largest oil customer is speeding toward clean energy
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/08/climate/china-venezuela-oil-demand-electric-vehicles?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit
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President Donald Trump wants the US to sell Venezuela’s oil. But who would buy it?
China has long been one of Venezuela’s biggest customers for oil. But its hunger for that oil is waning, as the country pulls off a [stunningly fast transition](https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/23/climate/china-evs-growth-oil-market) to electric vehicles.
That transition means China’s oil imports likely won’t be seriously disrupted by the recent US military operation in Venezuela and Trump’s push for American companies to revitalize the oil infrastructure there, experts told CNN. China will probably be able to procure the oil it needs from Russia or Iran.
But there’s little doubt on the long-term trajectory of China’s oil demand: Analysts say it will trend downward. Many have projected the country has either already reached ‘peak oil’ or will very soon.
As CNN has reported, the Trump administration has told Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez the country must cut ties with China, Iran, Russia and Cuba, and agree to partner exclusively with the US on oil production. On Wednesday, [Trump administration officials said](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/07/politics/trump-officials-venezuela-oil-plan) the US would sell Venezuela’s oil.
In a statement to CNN, the Chinese foreign ministry called the business relationship between China and Venezuela “legitimate and in line with the interests of both sides.” The two countries’ cooperation “is unrelated to any third party, nor is it subject to third-party interference,” China’s foreign ministry added.
China’s oil diet matters. As the world’s biggest oil importer, what happens here has ripple effects across the global oil market.
Energy experts say this trend shows how sharply the US and China are diverging on the energy transition, with China sprinting far ahead on renewables and EVs, while the US doubles down on drilling oil at home and abroad.
Much of this has been driven by the transformation of China’s transportation sector from gas-powered vehicles to electric. China owns the EV market; of the 18.5 million electric vehicles sold globally last year, more than 11 million were sold in China, [according to](https://rhomotion.com/news/global-ev-sales-reach-18-5-million-units-growing-by-21-ytd-in-november-2025/) UK research firm Rho Motion.