The country’s crude oil is heavy, too thick to flow through a pipeline without dilution, and is filled with corrosive chemicals that can destroy refineries.

President Donald Trump claims that his takeover of Venezuela will help Americans struggling with high energy prices. But he has neglected to mention the higher expense involved in processing Venezuelan oil.Alex Wong via Getty Images

As U.S. President Donald Trump and top aide Stephen Miller brag how their might-makes-right imperialism has permitted them to confiscate Venezuela`s oil, they have neglected to mention a key detail that calls into question the fossil fuel`s value: its nastiness.

Oil from Venezuela, which Trump keeps claiming is now under his control, is a heavy sludge-like product filled with hydrogen sulfide and a slew of toxic metals that can destroy a refinery if not first removed, industry experts said. It must be diluted with imported petroleum products before it is even fluid enough to move, and its corrosiveness is the reason that much of the country`s oil drilling equipment is in such a state of disrepair.

"That`s why the infrastructure has rotted away," said Matt Randolph, an oil industry executive with decades of experience. "It`s extremely corrosive and all of the equipment needs constant maintenance and chemical treatment to keep it from degrading."

The higher expense involved in processing Venezuelan oil, combined with current low oil prices globally and an uncertain oil demand in the future, means that the U.S. installation of a more cooperative ruler in that country may end up having no effect on what Americans pay for gasoline and heating oil.

An oil industry analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said production could - with relatively little cost - ramp up from the current 1 million barrels a day being extracted in Venezuela by about 200,000 more barrels. Beyond that, though, will require massive new investments that might never pay off if oil prices remain low.

According to the analyst, the question oil companies are weighing is: "Could we make money in 2032 if we spend tens of billions of dollars right now?"

Trump, nonetheless, continues to state that his takeover of Venezuela will help Americans struggling with high energy prices.

"I`m also meeting with oil companies. Let`s go. You know - you know what that`s about, got a lot of oil to drill, which is going to bring down oil prices even further," he told House Republicans on Tuesday, referring to a planned meeting with oil company executives on Friday.

"I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America," Trump wrote in a social media post later that day that also claimed he was now in charge of Venezuela`s oil industry. "This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!"

The sale of that oil would generate, at most, $3 billion - a tiny fraction, according to industry experts, of what it would cost to restore the drilling infrastructure in Venezuela to a condition where it can boost its current oil production to where it was in 2019 before the imposition of sanctions.

To get it back to that 2 million barrels per day level would cost $108 billion in investments over the next decade, according to Rystad Energy. Bringing production up to 3 billion, like it was in Venezuela`s oil-producing heyday of the 1990s, would cost another $75 billion by 2040.

Claudio Galimberti, Rystad`s chief economist, estimated that the new investment cannot pay off unless the price of oil rises to at least $80 per barrel.

"Biggest cost is to get diluent and/or naphtha into the country, which is necessary to move the viscous heavy Venezuelan crude," he said, referring to petroleum products needed to dilute the oil. "There are very few sources of naphtha so far for Venezuela, and they are Russia and China."

With oil currently below $60 a barrel, a level that has even discouraged new domestic drilling, it is unclear whether oil companies would be interested in plowing 11 or 12 figures into a country where the oil requires expensive processing from the moment it comes out of the ground, particularly as more countries transition to electric cars and renewable energy and new demand for oil slows.

On top of the economic risks are political ones, the oil industry analyst said, which are every bit as unpredictable, such as the continuing instability in Venezuela, currently being run by former dictator Nicolás Maduro`s second-in-command, and the possibility that Trump is replaced in three years by a Democrat, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

"They`ve got a whole bunch of problems," he said of Venezuela`s oil prospects.