President Donald Trump is expected to meet with leaders of major US oil companies at the White House to persuade them to support his plan for Venezuela, a country he believes Washington will control energy sources for many years to come. The meeting takes place in the context of US forces arresting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a large-scale military campaign.
According to the White House, the US currently has a "maximum lever" against the interim government in Venezuela. Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed the dialogue with senior oil directors, emphasizing that this is an opportunity to discuss the great opportunities opening up for US energy companies.
The Trump administration has repeatedly affirmed that the US is running Venezuela. Energy Secretary Chris Wright declared that the US will control the country's oil industry for an indefinite period.
Meanwhile, Ms. Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuelan interim President and former deputy of Mr. Maduro, said that her government still holds management, while the state-owned oil and gas company only said it is negotiating with the US on selling oil.
According to NBC News, executives of Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend the meeting at the White House. Among these, Chevron is the only US company currently licensed to operate in Venezuela. Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips left this South American country in 2007 after refusing to request the transfer of controlling shares to the then government.
Venezuela owns about 1/5 of the world's oil reserves but only contributes about 1% of global production, due to years of lack of investment, sanctions and embargoes. Mr. Trump considers this resource an important advantage in the goal of lowering US domestic fuel prices.
The US President said that the Venezuelan interim government will transfer from 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the US. He declared that this oil will be sold at market prices and the proceeds will be controlled by him to serve the interests of both the Venezuelan and US people, and only used to buy US products.
Secretary Wright said that Venezuela's oil production could increase by hundreds of thousands of barrels per day in the short term, although admitting that bringing production back to a historical peak of more than 3 million barrels per day will require tens of billions of USD and a lot of time.
Washington also said it is gradually selectively easing sanctions to allow the sale and transportation of Venezuelan oil, while supporting the transportation of light oil, equipment and experts to improve exploitation infrastructure.
