President Trump wants U.S. companies to invest in Venezuela, but political instability and a history of state control of the oil industry could complicate matters.
President Trump says Venezuela will give US millions of barrels of oil
President Donald Trump has said Venezuela will transfer 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States after the capture of Nicolas Maduro.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with oil company executives as his administration looks to American companies to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure under new leadership after a U.S. military operation.
The meeting will take place at the White House on January 9, according to a White House official.
In an unusual move, the United States arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro early on January 3 and brought him to New York City on drug trafficking charges. Maduro pleaded not guilty in federal court on January 5. Delcy Rodriguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president, became interim president.
President Trump has focused on Venezuela’s oil resources following the U.S. military operation. In a speech after Maduro’s arrest, Trump said Venezuela had “stolen” U.S. oil, a claim disputed by some international energy law experts.
“We built Venezuela’s oil industry with American talent, ambition, and skill,” President Trump said. “And the socialist regimes stole it from us during those previous regimes, and they stole it by force. This constituted one of the greatest thefts of American property in our country’s history.”
Venezuela boasts the world’s largest oil reserves and was once home to several U.S. oil companies, but Chevron is the only major U.S. oil company left after former leader Hugo Chávez pushed to nationalize the country’s oil industry.
The administration is now trying to entice U.S. oil companies to reinvest in Venezuela, but the country’s political instability and history of state control of the oil industry could complicate matters.
President Trump told NBC on January 5 that Venezuelan oil production could take less than 18 months to recover and that the United States could repay its investments in American oil companies.
“We’re going to have to spend a lot of money, and the oil companies are going to spend it, and then it’s going to be reimbursed by us and through revenue,” Trump said.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright will meet with oil company executives in Miami on January 7th. Mr. Wright is also coordinating efforts announced by President Trump on January 6 to transfer sanctioned Venezuelan oil to the United States. President Trump said the United States would sell 30 million to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil.
“This oil will be sold at market price and managed by me, the President of the United States, to ensure that the funds are used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the United States,” Trump said in a Jan. 6 social media post.
Mr. Wright appeared in Miami and laid out plans for the United States to sell Venezuelan crude oil in the future. He said the first crude to be sold will be “crude in floating storage at sea, backed up by onshore storage.”
“We’re going to put the crude oil coming out of Venezuela on the market. First this will back up the oil we have in storage, and then we’re going to sell the crude oil coming out of Venezuela on the market indefinitely,” Wright said.
The crude oil will be sold to U.S. refineries and “around the world,” Wright said, and sales will be conducted by the U.S. government and “funded into accounts controlled by the U.S. government.”
“And from there, those funds can be flowed back to Venezuela to benefit the Venezuelan people,” Wright added. “But it needs its influence and control of oil sales to drive the changes that absolutely must happen in Venezuela.”
Wright said the deal would “create the conditions for U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela in the long term” as the Trump administration makes “progress with the government.”
“The resources are huge,” he says. “This is supposed to be a wealthy, prosperous, peaceful energy powerhouse. That’s the plan.”
This story has been updated to add new information.
Contributor: Erin Mansfield
