Trump administration sets meetings with oil companies on Venezuela: Report

The three biggest US oil companies have so far not had any meetings with the government, contradicting Trump’s comments.While US President Donald Trump wants US oil companies to invest in Venezuela, his plans will be hindered by a lack of infrastructure in the South American country, along with uncertainty over its political future, legal framework and long-term US policy [File: Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters]Published On 5 Jan 2026The administration of United States President Donald Trump is planning to meet with executives from US oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production after US forces abducted its leader, Nicolas Maduro, the Reuters news agency has reported, citing unnamed sources.The meetings are crucial to the administration’s hopes of getting top US oil companies back into the South American nation after its government, nearly two decades ago, took control of US-led energy operations there, the Reuters news agency report said on Monday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Colombia’s Petro says he is prepared to ‘take up arms’ amid US threatslist 2 of 4Trump poses with ‘Make Iran Great Again’ hat after Maduro abductionlist 3 of 4Greenland warns Trump against any ‘fantasies’ of annexationlist 4 of 4Delcy Rodriguez sworn in as Venezuela’s president after Maduro abductionend of listThe three biggest US oil companies – Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron – have not yet had any conversations with the Trump administration about Maduro’s ouster, according to four oil industry executives familiar with the matter, contradicting Trump’s statements over the weekend that he had already held meetings with “all” the US oil companies, both before and since Maduro was abducted.“Nobody in those three companies has had conversations with the White House about operating in Venezuela, pre-removal or post-removal, to this point,” one of the sources said on Monday.The upcoming meetings will be crucial to the administration’s hopes to boost crude oil production and exports from Venezuela, a former OPEC nation that sits atop the world’s largest reserves, and whose crude oil can be refined by specially designed US refineries. Achieving that goal will require years of work and billions of dollars of investment, analysts say.It is unclear what executives will be attending the upcoming meetings, and whether oil companies will be attending individually or collectively.The White House did not comment on the meetings, but said it believed the US oil industry was ready to flood into Venezuela.“All of our oil companies are ready and willing to make big investments in Venezuela that will rebuild their oil infrastructure, which was destroyed by the illegitimate Maduro regime,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers.Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.One oil industry executive told Reuters the companies would be reluctant to talk about potential Venezuela operations in group settings with the White House, citing antitrust concerns that limit collective discussions among competitors about investment plans, timing and production levels.Political risks, low oil pricesUS forces on Saturday conducted a raid on Venezuela’s capital, arresting Maduro in the dead of night and sending him back to the US to face narcoterrorism charges.Hours after Maduro’s abduction, Trump said he expects the biggest US oil companies to spend billions of dollars boosting Venezuela’s oil production, after it dropped to about a third of its peak over the past two decades due to underinvestment and sanctions.But those plans will be hindered by a lack of infrastructure, along with deep uncertainty over the country’s political future, legal framework and long-term US policy, according to industry analysts.“While the Trump administration has suggested large US oil companies will go into Venezuela and spend billions to fix infrastructure, we believe political and other risks, along with current relatively low oil prices, could prevent this from happening anytime soon,” wrote Neal Dingmann of William Blair in a note.Material change to Venezuelan production will take a lot of time and millions of dollars of infrastructure improvement, he said.And any investment in Venezuelan infrastructure right now would take place in a weakened global energy market. Crude prices in the US are down by 20 percent compared with last year. The price for a barrel of benchmark US crude has not been above $70 since June, and has not touched $80 per barrel since June of 2024.A barrel of oil cost more than $130 in the leadup to the US housing crisis in 2008.Chevron is the only US major currently operating in Venezuela’s oil fields.Exxon and ConocoPhillips, meanwhile, had storied histories in the country before their projects were nationalised nearly two decades ago by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.Conoco has been seeking billions of dollars in restitution for the takeover of three oil projects in Venezuela under Chavez. Exxon was involved in lengthy arbitration cases against Venezuela after it exited the country in 2007.Chevron, which exports about 150,000 barrels per day of crude from Venezuela to the US Gulf Coast, meanwhile, has had to carefully manoeuvre with the Trump administration in an effort to maintain its presence in the country in recent years.A US embargo on Venezuelan oil remained in full effect, Trump has said.The S&P 500 energy index rose to its highest since March 2025, with heavyweights Exxon Mobil rising by 2.2 percent and Chevron jumping by 5.1 percent.