Chevron, Exxon and SLB Stocks Are Surging but Oil Prices Are Hardly Moving

Some oil stocks were soaring on Monday despite a modest gain in crude prices following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the U.S.

Historically, violence in oil-producing countries causes oil prices to jump, because of fears of an oil shortage. But the price of oil was only up by about 1% on Monday.

 The reason for oil’s muted response is that the global oil market is still well-supplied, and whatever happens in Venezuela won’t change that. 

Oil production is at a record high in the United States and other countries like Saudi Arabia and Brazil have been ramping up production in recent months. Venezuela is a small player today, and is unlikely to move the market much in either direction for years.

“[Venezuela’s oil] is only 1% of global supply, so it’s not a huge surprise that we have seen little to no impact,” Saxo Markets analyst Neil Wilson said. “The market is probably more focused on the overhang of 2025 oversupply than near-term geopolitical risks.”

But there’s definitely money to be made from Venezuela’s vast reserves of oil in the future, and companies can cash in on President Donald Trump’s desire to rebuild the industry. Trump said on Saturday that U.S. oil companies will spend billions fixing Venezuela’s “broken” oil infrastructure.