Donald Trump gathered top oil bosses in the Oval last night and straight up demanded that they give him $100 billion for Venezuelan crude.
The US leader pulled the heads of Exxon, Chevron, Repsol, and Eni into the White House and told them Venezuela was open for business; his business.
“You’re dealing with us directly. You’re not dealing with Venezuela at all,” Trump said. “We don’t want you to deal with Venezuela.”
He said the U.S. military took care of Nicolás Maduro in a January 3 raid, and now it’s time to turn those oil fields into a cash machine. “One of the things the United States gets out of this will be even lower energy prices,” he told the room.
But no one jumped to sign a check.
Executives say Venezuela is too risky right now
Darren, who runs Exxon, said:-
“We have had our assets seized there twice and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve historically seen and what is currently the state. Today it’s uninvestable.”
Others nodded. No one disputed that Venezuela is packed with oil. But there’s no trust. Years of chaos, disinvestment, and U.S. sanctions have left the industry gutted. Production is stuck around 1 million barrels a day, barely a blip in global supply.
Chevron, still operating there, says it handles about 20% of the country’s output. They’re ready to scale, but only if Washington clears the path. Exxon plans to send a team to take a look. Repsol said it’s pumping 45,000 barrels daily and could triple that number, but only if conditions improve. Eni didn’t promise anything, but they’re still in the mix.
Bill Armstrong, who runs a small U.S. drilling firm, was more blunt. “We are ready to go to Venezuela,” he said. “In real estate terms, it is prime real estate.”
No one talked about dropping $100 billion though.
Trump wants total control of Venezuela’s oil
While the oil bosses were dodging commitment, Trump made it clear who’s in charge. The White House says it’s easing sanctions just enough to allow some oil sales, but only under strict U.S. control. Any money from those sales will end up in U.S.-held accounts.
Officials say they’re working with interim authorities now led by Delcy Rodríguez, who used to be Maduro’s second-in-command. But Trump still plans to call the shots. The administration will choose which companies get access. The rest stay out.
This week, the U.S. seized multiple oil tankers loaded with crude that was still under sanctions. They’re building a structure to control the flow and profits.
Energy analysts aren’t sold. Claudio from Rystad Energy said Trump’s idea might only work with subsidies and political calm. He said it would take $8 billion to $9 billion every year just to triple Venezuela’s production by 2040.
“It’s going to be difficult to see big commitments before we have a fully stabilised political situation and that is anybody’s guess when that happens,” he said.
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