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Washington, Jan 10 (IANS) US President Donald Trump said the United States would directly oversee a plan allowing major American oil companies to help rebuild Venezuela’s “dilapidated” oil industry, presenting the initiative as a strategic reset in bilateral relations following the apprehension of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Addressing senior oil and gas executives at the White House, Trump said Washington would determine which companies would be permitted to operate in Venezuela and under what terms, stressing that American firms would deal directly with the US government rather than negotiating with Venezuelan authorities.
“We’re going to discuss how these great American companies can help rapidly rebuild Venezuela’s dilapidated oil industry and bring millions of barrels of oil production to benefit the United States, the people of Venezuela, and the entire world,” Trump said.
The president said Venezuela had already transferred 30 million barrels of oil to the United States, calling it “about $4 billion worth” and confirming that the shipment was already en route.
“That’s a lot of oil,” Trump said. “It’s on its way to the United States right now, and we want to thank Venezuela for that.”
He said future arrangements would involve US companies extracting oil under agreements authorized by Washington, adding that Venezuela’s reserves ranked among the largest globally.
“Some people say it is the biggest in the world,” Trump said.
Trump said US companies would operate under comprehensive security assurances, a condition he said had long prevented investment in Venezuela.
“One of the reasons you couldn’t go in is that you had no guarantees. You had no security, but now you have total security,” he said.
The president said American oil firms were expected to invest “at least $100 billion” of private capital to rebuild Venezuela’s energy infrastructure, emphasizing that the US government would not provide direct funding.
“They don’t need government money, but they need government protection and need government security,” Trump said.
Vice President JD Vance said the operation that led to Maduro’s apprehension had fundamentally altered the regional energy and security landscape.
“And he did it without losing a single American life in the process,” Vance said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the initiative would move through multiple phases, beginning with stabilization.
“We’re working very cooperatively with the interim authorities there to provide a market for the sale of the wealth of Venezuela,” Rubio said, adding that revenues would be used to purchase American goods and supplies.
Trump said the strategy would also benefit US consumers through lower fuel prices, citing recent gasoline prices below $2 per gallon.
“This will lead to even lower energy prices,” he said.
Venezuela’s oil sector was once closely linked to US companies before nationalization, sanctions, and years of underinvestment sharply reduced production despite vast reserves.
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