(NewsNation) — All eyes are on Venezuelan oil, after President Trump met with oil executives from nearly 20 companies on Friday to discuss investing in the country’s aging energy infrastructure.
The meeting came as a team from the State Department traveled to Venezuela to conduct an “initial assessment for potential phased resumption of operations.” President Trump seemed to emerge from the meeting confident, despite the oil executives not announcing any commitments.
The White House said the plan is for oil companies to invest $100 billion in rebuilding Venezuela’s oil infrastructure. Trump said his administration would guarantee that the companies would receive protection from the U.S. government.
“You have total safety. You have total security. One of the reasons you couldn’t go in is you had no guarantees, you had no security, but now you have total security,” Trump said. “You’re dealing with us directly; you’re not dealing with Venezuela at all. We don’t want you to deal with Venezuela.”
Executives from more than a dozen oil companies were in attendance, including Chevron, which currently operates in Venezuela, as well as ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Shell. During the public portion of the meeting, some executives expressed support for the idea of going into Venezuela. Others pointed out that some legal and political challenges remain.
Trump said the profits the oil companies make in the country would be divvied up among them, the U.S. and Venezuela. The president wasn’t clear about the specifics of the profit plan, noting it would be negotiated by his energy and interior secretaries.
Meanwhile, U.S. forces boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean on Friday, as the Trump administration targets sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela. The Olina is the fifth Venezuelan-linked oil tanker U.S. forces have seized. The action points to the fact that the Trump administration is not pulling back on its pressure campaign against the country.
After the coast guard seized the vessel, Trump shared that it was heading back to Venezuela and that the oil would be sold through a deal the U.S. had struck with the country. The president also announced he had cancelled an expected second wave of attacks on Venezuela, noting it was because they had released political prisoners.
“This is a very important and smart gesture. The U.S.A and Venezuela are working well together,” Trump wrote in a social media post. He maintained that the U.S. keep its large military ship presence in place in the region.