NEW YORK, Jan 5, 2026, 09:27 (ET)
- Halliburton rose about 4.7% in U.S. premarket trading, outpacing broader futures gains.
- The move followed President Donald Trump’s remarks on U.S. oil companies rebuilding Venezuela’s oil industry after the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
- Analysts warned the timeline to restore output is measured in years, with sanctions and contract terms still unclear.
Halliburton shares jumped about 4.7% to $29.60 in premarket trading on Monday, extending a rally across oilfield-services names after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled a push to reopen Venezuela’s oil industry.
The spike matters because a Venezuelan oil rebuild, if it proceeds, would require the drilling, pumping and well-completion work that service firms sell — and it would arrive as investors reset expectations for 2026 upstream spending.
It also drops into a market that has been short on clear catalysts for oilfield services, where growth has increasingly depended on large international projects rather than faster-cycle U.S. shale activity.
Rival service providers rose in tandem. SLB was up about 4.8% premarket and Baker Hughes gained about 3.5%.
Trump said the United States would take control of Venezuela following the seizure of Maduro and that U.S. oil companies were eager to invest, while keeping a U.S. embargo on Venezuelan oil exports in place for now, Reuters reported.
Venezuela holds about 303 billion barrels of oil reserves, or roughly 17% of the global total, but output has been constrained by years of underinvestment, analysts said. JPMorgan analysts led by Natasha Kaneva wrote that production could rise to 1.3–1.4 million barrels per day within two years and potentially reach 2.5 million over the next decade.
Halliburton’s next major test is closer to home: the company is scheduled to discuss fourth-quarter results on Jan. 21, when investors will press for guidance on international demand and pricing.
The rally carries obvious risks. “It will take tens of billions of dollars to turn that industry around,” said Peter McNally, global head of sector analysts at Third Bridge, adding that restoring Venezuela’s oil infrastructure could take at least a decade. Source
