President Donald Trump announced plans to enlist the largest US oil companies to invest billions of dollars in Venezuela’s infrastructure. Speaking at a press conference streamed on the White House’s YouTube channel, he said, “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies — the biggest anywhere in the world — go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure.”
Analysts estimate that it would require roughly $100 billion in investments to restore Venezuelan production to previous levels, or about $10 billion a year for at least a decade. Potential participants named include Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips, though companies are proceeding cautiously. In 2007, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry, forcing US corporations to leave the country and costing them billions of dollars. ConocoPhillips is still pursuing roughly $10 billion through legal channels.
Meanwhile, US oil firms are not rushing back, citing political uncertainty. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed confidence in Western companies’ interest in Venezuelan heavy crude oil, particularly given its scarcity in global markets and high utilization at Gulf Coast refineries. Even so, returning to the Venezuelan sector would be a long-term, high-risk undertaking.
