US President Donald Trump has said a decision on which oil companies will go into Venezuela will be coming "maybe" on Friday, as he holds a meeting with executives from major oil firms.
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump said the administration would soon decide which companies would be allowed to operate in Venezuela.
The companies will work directly with the United States and not the Venezuelan government, Trump said, as he assured them of what he described as "total safety."
"We don’t want you to deal with Venezuela," Trump told more than a dozen oil executives gathered in the East Room.
'Uninvestable' country
Trump administration officials have said they need to control Venezuela’s oil sales and revenues to ensure the country acts in America’s interests.
Officials have also said they want large oil companies to invest billions of dollars in rehabilitating Venezuela’s oilfields.
Companies including Chevron, Vitol and Trafigura are reportedly competing for US licences to market Venezuela’s existing crude oil.
Oil majors, however, have been described as hesitant to commit to large, longer-term investments in Venezuela because of high costs and political instability.
Oil companies participating in the talks include some of the world’s largest firms, such as Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.
Several smaller independent companies and private equity-backed players have also taken part in the discussions, including some with links to Colorado, the home state of US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Venezuela needs significant changes to its commercial and legal systems for it to become investable, ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods said during the meeting, adding that he expects the shift to happen under Trump's administration.
"We've had our assets seized there twice, and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes," he said at a meeting with Trump.
"If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela — today, it's uninvestable."
'Exploratory' talks
Earlier today, Venezuela said it was in "exploratory" talks with the United States on restoring diplomatic ties, broken off in 2019 under President Nicolas Maduro, who was abducted by US on January 3 along with First Lady in a stunning attack on Caracas.
The government of new interim president Delcy Rodriguez confirmed that US diplomats travelled on Friday to Caracas for what a US official said were talks on reopening the US embassy.
Caracas said it would be reciprocating by sending a delegation to Washington.
