Energy secretary says Chevron expansion, US oil role in Venezuela could come ‘pretty quickly’
As the White House prepares to meet with America’s largest oil companies about Venezuela’s oil sector, U.S. Energy Secretary Christopher Wright explained what could come next for the crude-rich country and what timeline producers might face in helping develop its resources.
"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," Wright told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on Thursday. "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."
"So you're going to see, probably, a growth in Chevron activities there quickly. You're going to see Conoco and Exxon and dozens of other American firms immediately looking at, ‘Hey, what constructive role can we play? How can we be a little bit of help for existing operations?’" he continued. "They're going to work to look at what's going on in the industry, and what productive advice and help can they give on that."
President Donald Trump plans to meet with executives from major U.S. oil companies on Friday, administration officials have confirmed, to discuss expanding U.S. industry involvement in Venezuela’s energy sector following recent actions there.
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Chevron is currently the only major U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela, while ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil had operations there before their assets were nationalized under Hugo Chávez more than a decade ago.
"The biggest problem with that meeting is so many people [are] disappointed that I didn't invite them to come as well," Wright said. "There is tremendous American interest to see how can we help the United States government, how can we help solve the problem in Venezuela — that it's not only been rough for Venezuela, but that's plagued our shores, our cities, our countrysides. A collapsed state in the Western Hemisphere is bad for America."
Venezuela's oil output has fallen sharply over the last two decades due to underinvestment, mismanagement, sanctions, and infrastructure decay, dropping from roughly 3.5 million barrels per day in the late 1990s to about 1.1 million barrels per day at the end of 2025. President Trump has said the United States will oversee Venezuelan oil sales as part of broader efforts to support the country’s transition after the removal of Nicolás Maduro.
"You can sell oil together with the United States, or you can not sell oil," Wright said.
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"[Venezuela is] choosing, ‘Maybe we should work with the United States.’ So that oil, we're allowing it to flow again, it's marketed by the United States government," he expanded, "the money's going to flow into accounts, and then, of course, they'll get greater oil revenue than they were getting before. And then that money will be funded back to Venezuela. And now we've got nice aligned incentives. Let's end the criminality and the displacement, and the destructive behavior towards American citizens and try to get Venezuela going in the right direction."
When asked how long the oil transition could take, Wright said it would happen "pretty quickly," predicting Venezuela’s output could rise from about 800,000 barrels per day to well over 1 million as companies re-engage and invest in infrastructure.
FOX Business' Edward Lawrence and Eric Revell contributed to this report.