(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump began a White House meeting on Friday to discuss Venezuela with executives from the world’s biggest oil companies, saying he wants them to invest $100 billion in the country to significantly expand production.
The meeting reflects the importance of oil to Trump’s strategy toward OPEC members, following the U.S. military’s bold overnight raid on the South American country’s capital on January 3 and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
“We will discuss how these great American companies can quickly rebuild Venezuela’s devastated oil industry, producing millions of barrels of oil and benefiting the United States, the Venezuelan people, and the entire world,” President Trump said at the beginning of the meeting.
“We will decide later which oil companies will participate and which oil companies will be allowed to participate,” he said. President Trump praised a recent agreement with Venezuela’s interim leaders to provide the United States with 50 million barrels of crude oil, saying many U.S. refineries have special equipment for refining and that he expected supplies to continue indefinitely.
“One of the things the U.S. will get out of this will be further reductions in energy prices,” he said.
Trump administration officials have said they need indefinite control over Venezuela’s oil sales and revenues to ensure that the country acts in U.S. interests, and that they want big oil companies to rebuild Venezuela’s oil fields, which have been in decline for decades. Reuters reported that companies including Chevron, Vitol and Trafigura are vying fiercely for U.S. licenses to sell existing Venezuelan crude oil, but oil giants are reluctant to make large-scale, long-term investments in the country, citing high costs and political instability.
Chevron Vice Chairman Mark Nelson said at a White House meeting that the company is focused on investing in Venezuela.
Chevron already has operations in the country, but rivals Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips left about 20 years ago after their assets were nationalized.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods said the company currently considers Venezuela “uninvestable” and that significant changes are needed for the country to return.
“I am confident that this administration and President Trump, working together with the Venezuelan government, can achieve these changes,” he said.
Several smaller independent and private equity-backed companies were also invited to the meeting, including one with ties to Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s home state of Colorado.
Reporting by Sheila Dang, Nathan Crooks, David French, Jarrett Renshaw and Shariq Khan. Written by Richard Valdmanis. Editing: Nathan Crooks and Nia Williams
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