Written by Marianna Paraga and Nathan Crooks
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright meets interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, visits following Maduro detention, $2 billion oil supply deal, analysts say U.S. aims to reshape global energy markets and put pressure on Russia
HOUSTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Venezuela will host U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright this week, conducting the first on-site assessment of the oil industry the U.S. is proposing to rebuild, in what will be the highest-level U.S. energy policy-focused visit to the OPEC member in nearly 30 years.
Wright arrived in Caracas on Wednesday, a day after the United States issued a new general permit to facilitate oil and gas exploration and production in Venezuela, and met with Interim President and Petroleum Minister Delcy Rodríguez at the Miraflores presidential palace.
Venezuelan Information Minister Miguel Pérez Pirera said in a release posted on social media at the beginning of the meeting that the two countries would discuss energy issues.
Wright will also meet with executives from companies such as Chevron (CVX.N) and Spain’s Repsol (REP.MC). He is expected to stay until Friday, meeting with local consumer goods companies before visiting Petropia, his biggest oil project.
Chevron and state energy company PDVSA are operating in Venezuela’s main oil region, the Orinoco Belt, a person familiar with the preparations said.
The visit follows the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. military in early January, the $2 billion oil supply agreement reached by the U.S. and Venezuela shortly thereafter, and President Donald Trump’s $100 billion restructuring plan for the country’s energy industry.
The U.S. Embassy in Caracas, which began reopening in late January, said Wright’s visit was key to advancing President Trump’s Venezuela initiative.
“The U.S. private sector is essential to revitalizing our oil sector, modernizing our power grid, and unlocking Venezuela’s vast potential,” Chargé d’Affaires Laura Dogu said in a post on X. She also attended the meeting in Miraflores.
The last U.S. Energy Secretary to visit Venezuela was Bill Richardson, who visited the country several times from 1998 to 2001 under former President Bill Clinton. Visits by U.S. officials to Caracas have been virtually eliminated since then, due to strained bilateral relations between former President Hugo Chávez and then-President Maduro.
What will Wright find in Venezuela?
Mr. Wright and Mr. Rodriguez face the daunting task of orchestrating the recovery of Venezuela’s oil industry after decades of underinvestment, mismanagement and U.S. sanctions, with U.S. investors at the forefront. Mr. Wright would continue to face an unstable political situation after the war.
The high-profile opposition leader was released from prison this week but was rearrested hours later.
Thomas O’Donnell, an energy geopolitics analyst, said Wright’s visit reflects the United States’ long-term geopolitical interest in Venezuelan oil as it seeks to reshape global energy markets while putting pressure on Russia.
He said the Trump administration is moving to pursue a “principle of American energy dominance” that not only separates Venezuela from Russian and Chinese influence but also provides the U.S. ability to ultimately take Russian oil offline if geopolitically necessary.
He added: “This is an aggressive geostrategic and geoeconomic plan to capitalize on America’s oil wealth and work with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, other Gulf states, Venezuela and Guyana to reshape the global oil market.”
Venezuela’s parliament last month approved sweeping reforms to the country’s main oil law, giving foreign producers operational and financial autonomy as a first step to boosting investment.
“This whole thing…is like doing an impossibly difficult high dive, or an impossibly difficult flip on a freestyle ski. All we can do is hope for success,” Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat from energy-rich Colorado, told reporters after Wright’s secret briefing on Tuesday.
Reporting by Marianna Paraga, Nathan Crooks, Sheila Dunn, Timothy Gladner and Reuters staff. Editing: Chris Rees and Mark Porter
Share this:
