October 1, 2026 - Glencore PLC, Peabody Energy Corp. and Heeney Capital are weighing deals to produce coal in Venezuela as the Trump administration’s push for United States-allied companies to develop the nation’s resources extends beyond oil.

Glencore and Peabody are working together on a possible bid for assets in Venezuela’s Zulia state, the heart of the nation’s coal sector, according to people familiar with the matter.

Heeney, a New York investment firm, is working with Alabama-based miner Drummond Co. on a separate potential bid for assets in Zulia, said the people who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Drummond sent representatives last month to the region, the people said.

Swiss-based Glencore, St Louis-based Peabody and Drummond declined to comment. Heeney, Venezuela’s information ministry and the country’s state coal company, Carbones del Zulia SA, didn’t immediately respond.

Venezuela, home to some of the world’s largest crude reserves, has about 730 million metric tons of coal reserves, among the largest in South America, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Yet coal production has collapsed from its peak a quarter-century ago, plagued by the same type of neglect and under investment that’s gutted the country’s oil industry.

The nation mined about 350,000 short tons of coal in 2024 compared with about 8.7 million in 2000, EIA data show. Officials have been trying to revive the industry, with production restarting at the Paso Diablo and Mina Norte mines in the Guasare Basin in late 2024. In early September, the U.S. Treasury eased sanctions on Venezuela’s coal sector, authorizing certain trade and services as well as negotiations for new investment in the industry.

Peabody participated in a U.S. government-led mining delegation to Caracas in March. The company previously held a stake in the venture that operated the Paso Diablo mine in Guasare before Venezuela declined to renew its concession in 2013.

Drummond and Glencore, meanwhile, are significant coal producers in neighbouring Colombia.

The talks between Venezuela and the companies have focused on operational control and off-take rights rather than outright ownership of the mines, the people said. That’s similar to the model other minerals companies are using in the country in the wake of U.S. forces removing former leader Nicolas Máduro from power in January.

Reviving Venezuela’s coal industry would require vast investments in new equipment and infrastructure. That could make it difficult for coal producers there to compete with cheaper supplies from neighboring Colombia.

It’s also uncertain whether there will be enough buyers for the coal once the mines are up and running since global demand is being currently propped up by short-term supply and trade disruptions.