Trump's Venezuela Oil Pitch Falls Flat: What's Next?
Trump signs emergency order to protect US-Held revenue from Oil
Washington: us President Donald Trump pressed top Oil Executives on
Friday to invest in Venezuela’s vast reserves, but was met with a cautions
reception with one major CEO dismissing the country as ‘universal” without
sweeping reforms
Trump told the industry leaders that his administration not Caracas
would decide with firms are allowed to operate in Venezuela following the
stunning capture of Nicolas Maduro, the deposed president.
“We’re going to be making the decision as the oil companies are
going to go in. (we’re) going to cut a goal with the companies,” Trump said at
the white House, arguing that foreign firms had had no meaningful protection
under Maduro.
But now you have totally security. It’s a whole different Venezuela,
he added.
Trump said oil companies would “Dealt with us directly”, signaling that
the US government would attempt to cut the oil-rich, cash-poor Latin American national completely out the loo p
when it came to exploiting its own resources.
Despite Trump’s Assurances, ExxonMobil chief Executive Darren Woods
struck a note of skepticism.
We’ve had our assets seized there twice and so, you can imagine, to
re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes” he said.
“If
we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in
Venezuela- today, it’s uninvest able.”
The white House meeting came
less than a week after US forces seized Maduro, with trump making no secret that
control of Venezuela’s oil was control to his action.
Opening the session, he said the talks would focus on how US companies
could rapidly rebuild the contra’s dilapidated oil industry and Boost
production by Millions of Barrels a day.
Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and
Energy Secretary Chris Wright attended alongside executive from Chevron, ExxonMobil,
ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Valero, marathon, Shell refigure, Vitol Americas
and Repsol Among others.
A spokesman for ConocoPhillips said CEO Ryan Lance appreciated the
discussion about “Preparing Venzezuela to be investment ready”
Speaking afther the meetng, Trump said participants had “sort of
formed a deal”, but offered no specifics. He claimed Oil companies were
prepared to invest
“At least 100 Billion Dollars”
REBUILDING WILL ‘TAKE TIME’
Analysts said Trump’s
push to revive Venezuela’s oil industry rests on shaky economies and strategic
ground.
Experts warned that vast reserves on paper do not translate into quick
or profitable production, pointing to outdated infrastructure, political
instability, heavy crude that is costly to extract, and investor unease in a
world shifting way from fossil fuels.
“There’s lots of talk about the size of the reserves-300 billion
barrels of proven reserves- but what’s often missing from the conversation is
how realistic it it for those to economically extracted” said Rich collet-white,
and energy analyst at carbon tracker.
After the talks, wright- who has said Washington will control Venezuela’s
oil industry “indefinitely”
Admitted that it will “take time”
to rebuild its infrastructure.
While the president touts the country’s oil resources to US
companies, Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez has said her government
remains in charge.
The state oil company has said only that it was the negotiation
with Washington.
Chevron is currently the only US firm licensed to operate in Venezuela.
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips
exited in 2007 after refusing demands by then-president Hugo Chavez to cade
majority control to the stat.
Sanctioned by Washington since 2019, Venezuela site on about a
fifth of the world’s oil reserves and was once major crude supplier to the
united States.
But it produced only around one per cent of the world’s total crude
output in 2024, having been hampered by years of underinvestment, sanctions and
embargoes.
Trump sees the country’s massive oil reserves as a windfall in his fight
to further lower US domestic fuel prices.
Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order protecting
US held money derived from sales of Venezuelan Oil, after the ouster of Nicolas
maduro.
In the order, Trump-who has made clear that tapping Venezuela’s
vast oil reserves was a key goal in in the US ouster of Maduro-is acting “to
advance US foreign Policy objectives” the white House said in a fact sheet
accompanying the order.
- - "Trump's Venezuela Oil Pitch Falls Flat: What's Next?"
- - "Scepticism Surrounds Trump's Venezuela Oil Deal"
- - "US Oil Firms Unimpressed by Trump's Venezuela Offer"
- - "Venezuela's Oil Future Uncertain as Trump Faces Resistance"
- - "Trump's $100bn Venezuela Oil Plan: Unrealistic Expectations?"
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