Trump says U.S. could control 55% of world oil with Venezuelan deal

U.S President Donald Trump has said the United States could control more than half of the world’s oil production if American companies get back into Venezuela’s energy sector.

Speaking at the White House after a meeting with executives from ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, Trump said Washington was preparing to “work with Venezuela” to rebuild its oil industry after years of decline brought on by years of US sanctions.

“American companies will have the opportunity to rebuild Venezuela’s energy infrastructure and eventually increase oil production to levels never seen before,” Trump said. “When you add Venezuela and the United States together, we have 55% of the oil in the world.”

Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserves globally, but US companies lost control of their assets during nationalisation under former president Hugo Chávez in the 2000s.

Trump described those moves as “unfair” and said they justified his administration’s recent actions against Chávez’s successor, Nicolás Maduro.

Trump also announced plans for at least US$100 billion in American investment, though industry leaders cautioned that major regulatory reforms would be required. Venezuelan officials have condemned the plan as a violation of sovereignty, while Maduro has pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges in a US court.

Exxon’s chief executive Darren Woods told media that Venezuela was “uninvestable”.

“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,” he said.