Venezuela Joins the G20's Oil Talks in Houston: What's Really Driving the Invitation

US Secretary Interior Doug Burgum speaks during a press conference in the framework of the G20 Ministerial meeting on Energy Abundance, in Houston, Texas, on September 14, 2026. The discussions are slated to run through September 16 in Houston, in the oil-rich US state of Texas. The meetings gather delegations from the world's largest economies -- including China, India, Japan and Germany -- with major oil producers set to attend, such as Canada and Saudi Arabia. (Credit: Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)

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  Venezuela is sitting in on this week's G20 energy ministerial in Houston (Sept. 14-16), even though it isn't a G20 member, weeks after Washington signed a 100-year deal covering 17 of its oil fields.

• Diesel hit a fresh all-time U.S. high of $6.27 a gallon on Sept. 15, according to AAA, up from roughly $5.90 just a week earlier, as Middle East shipping disruptions squeeze fuel markets.
• A Russian delegation is also in Houston for the talks, a move that has unsettled some of Washington's European allies still pushing to isolate Moscow over Ukraine.

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Venezuelan officials are working the halls of a G20 gathering in Houston this week, an odd position for a country that doesn't belong to the bloc. Their presence at the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Abundance, running September 14 through 16, comes barely two weeks after Washington and Caracas finalized a sprawling agreement handing a private operator control of a large slice of the country's crude reserves. It's the first time Venezuelan representatives have shown up at G20 energy talks at all.