North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong defended the Trump administration’s push to expand oil production in Venezuela, even as he acknowledged that low oil prices are taking a toll on the budget of his oil- and gas-producing state.
Armstrong, a Republican, said during POLITICO’s 2026 Governors Summit that the strategic value in developing Venezuela’s oil outweighed the potential impacts to his state — which he said will go from a $1.5 billion surplus to a tight budget in part because of decreased oil revenues. The increasing volume of oil Venezuela is exporting under the direction of the White House is displacing some of the crude that companies in North Dakota would have normally sent to fuel manufacturers on the Gulf Coast.
“Somebody’s going to develop the oil in Venezuela — it’s too valuable,” said Armstrong, who served on the Energy and Commerce Committee during his time in Congress. “Do I want Chevron and Exxon and U.S. companies, even if there’s no EPA, that have a responsibility to their shareholders, or do I want Iran and China developing that resource?”
President Donald Trump has continued to push higher domestic production — along with the effort to unlock new resources in Venezuela — even as low prices have strained the profits of U.S. oil and gas producers. Companies, including close Trump ally Harold Hamm’s Continental Resources, have pulled back rigs and slowed drilling in North Dakota.
