International oil companies are ready to invest $100 billion in Venezuela

US President Donald Trump urged major international oil companies to exploit Venezuela’s huge crude reserves during a meeting with its leaders at the White House on Friday, without being able to convince them all to take this step..

Trump gathered the heads of international oil groups, many of them American, in addition to the Italian company Eni and Spanish Repsol, a week after a US military operation resulted in the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his transfer from the capital, Caracas, to the United States..

Trump announced that these companies are ready to invest “at least $100 billion” in Venezuela.

He said, “You will enjoy complete safety” at work, without clarifying the form of security guarantees, while he ruled out any American military presence to protect oil exploitation operations..

But he announced that the operations would be sponsored by the United States, which would decide which oil companies would be allowed to exploit the country’s vast resources.

Trump announced that his plan does not include a role for Caracas in decision-making.

He told the heads of oil companies, “You will deal directly with us, and not with Venezuela at all, and we do not want you to deal with Venezuela.”

““Unfavorable for investment”

Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods announced that he does not intend to rush to start new investments in Venezuela..

“Our assets there have been confiscated twice, so entering the country for a third time will require fundamental changes,” Woods said during the meeting with Trump. “If we look at the legal and commercial frameworks that currently exist in Venezuela, we will find that they are not conducive to investment.”

Mark Nelson, vice president of the American company Chevron, confirmed to Trump that the company is “very keen to help (Venezuela) build a better future,” without providing further details..

Chevron is the only American company licensed to operate in Venezuela. ExxonMobil and ConecoPhillips left the country in 2007, after they refused to comply with conditions imposed by leftist leader Hugo Chavez at the time, which required the Venezuelan state to obtain a majority stake in any oil-related activity..

“structural” problem

Venezuela has the largest proven reserves of crude oil in the world, amounting to more than 300 billion barrels, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), ahead of Saudi Arabia (267 billion barrels) and Iran..

However, its production remains modest and limited, not exceeding one million barrels per day.

This production is hampered by a lack of investment over decades and US sanctions imposed since Donald Trump’s first term.

Also, Venezuelan crude is more viscous than American crude, which makes refining it complex, expensive, and polluting the environment..

Modernizing facilities in Venezuela requires investments worth tens of billions of dollars, amid fears of political instability.

Washington currently rules out holding elections in the country, preferring to deal with interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

Although it possesses about a fifth of international oil reserves, Venezuela will produce only one percent of global production in 2024, according to data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)..

Trump sees an opportunity to exploit Venezuelan oil reserves in his effort to reduce fuel prices in the United States, which is a major political item.