US oil companies want “serious guarantees” from the Trump administration before making large investments in Venezuela, according to a report from the Financial Times.
After launching the attack on Caracas that killed around 100 people and resulted in the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro, Trump said the US would “run” Venezuela and that US oil companies would be investing heavily in the country, but oil executives appear to be worried about the risks.
Trump is set to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday, and, according to the Financial Times report, they are expected to ask the president for strong legal and financial guarantees before committing capital to Venezuela.
“There would have to be some serious guarantees from the government to get the big boys back in Venezuela,” an unnamed executive of a major US energy firm told Financial Times. “It’s going to take a while to see real investment in the country and then longer to get production up.”
Amos Hochstein, who worked as an energy advisor in the Biden administration and is not a managing partner at the investment group TWG Global, noted that by the time the oil companies saw revenue from new investments in Venezuela, Trump would no longer be president.
One major question about Trump’s plan for Venezuela is whether the Venezuelan government will go along with it. While Acting President Delcy Rodriguez has said she’s open to “cooperation” with the US, it’s unclear if she will capitulate to all of Trump’s demands, which he is making under the threat of a new US attack.
