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U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Friday that oil companies will invest "hundreds of billions of dollars" in Venezuela after meeting with more than a dozen executives at the White House, while Exxon CEO Darren Woods warned the country is currently "uninvestable" and significant changes are needed.
"It was a great meeting we had today with the biggest companies anywhere in the world. They're going to be going in with hundreds of billions of dollars and drilling oil," Trump told reporters as he left for his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump was flanked by top executives from Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, and others, as well as Spain's Repsol and Italy's Eni.
Despite Trump's optimism, Exxon CEO Darren Woods expressed caution about returning to Venezuela.
"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. Today it's uninvestable," Woods said.
"We're confident that with this administration and President Trump, working hand in hand with the Venezuelan government, that those changes can be put in place," he added.
Exxon and ConocoPhillips departed Venezuela nearly 20 years ago after their assets were nationalized.
Chevron Vice Chairman Mark Nelson said the company is committed to investments in Venezuela. Chevron is the only U.S. oil major still operating in the country.
No major financial commitments were immediately forthcoming from the executives.
Trump said his administration would decide which firms would be allowed to operate in Venezuela.
"You're dealing with us directly. You're not dealing with Venezuela at all. We don't want you to deal with Venezuela," he said, addin that, "We're going to be making the decision as to which oil companies are going to go in."
The U.S. President also stated that the plan is for oil companies to invest $100 billion in Venezuela to develop related infrastructure, noting, "American companies will have the opportunity to rebuild Venezuela's rotting energy infrastructure and eventually increase oil production to levels never, ever seen before."
"Venezuela has also agreed that the United States will immediately begin refining and selling up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil, which will continue indefinitely," he said.
"One of the things the United States gets out of this will be even lower energy prices," Trump added.
Trump said his administration will provide security guarantees to oil companies working in Venezuela.
"We're going to make sure there's very, very good security. And I think the people of Venezuela are going to give you very good security," Trump said.
"We're going to work with the Venezuelan leaders and people, and we're going to have a very safe group, and they're going to also bring over some security with them. The people of Venezuela are going wild over this," he added.
Trump said the U.S. would guarantee the physical and financial security of oil companies investing in Venezuela, but did not provide details. Trump also said the ongoing discussions are aimed at securing commitments.
"We have to get them to invest and then we have to get their money back as quickly as we can. And then we can divvy it all up between Venezuela, the United States, and them. I think it's simple. I think the formula is simple," he added.
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently said in an interview on Fox News that there is "a real possibility" the U.S. could use its Export-Import Bank to help fund large oil projects in Venezuela, saying, "Of course, we'd like to go back to Venezuela. You know, it's United States companies that started their oil and gas industry, Chevron's been there for over 100 years."
"When they were the fourth-highest per-capita nation in the world in 1950, that was on American capital, American ingenuity, developing those resources in partnership with Venezuela," he noted in his interview with Fox News.
The Venezuelan government announced Friday that it would begin an "exploratory process" to reestablish diplomatic ties with the U.S.
"For the purpose of addressing this situation within the framework of international law, and in strict adherence to the principles of national sovereignty and the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace, the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela has decided to initiate an exploratory process of a diplomatic nature with the Government of the United States of America," the Foreign Ministry said.
"A U.S. State Department diplomatic delegation has arrived in Venezuela for technical and logistical assessments, and a Venezuelan diplomatic delegation will be sent to the U.S.," the statement said.
Caracas continued to criticize the "criminal, illegitimate, and illegal aggression" that led to Maduro and Flores being captured, saying the U.S. operation had led to more than 100 civilian and military deaths.
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