{"id":2532047,"date":"2026-01-09T14:16:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T19:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-meets-with-oil-executives-in-bid-to-boost-us-drilling-in-venezuela\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T14:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T19:17:11","slug":"trump-meets-with-oil-executives-in-bid-to-boost-us-drilling-in-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-meets-with-oil-executives-in-bid-to-boost-us-drilling-in-venezuela\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump meets with oil executives in bid to boost US drilling in Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-meets-with-oil-executives-in-bid-to-boost-us-drilling-in-venezuela%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2532047&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Donald trump hosted executives from more than a dozen oil and gas companies, including Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and ConocoPhillips, to press for major U.S. investment to revive Venezuela&#8217;s oil industry after the removal of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. The White House hopes American firms will invest heavily-Trump claimed at least $100 billion-to rebuild Venezuela&#8217;s depleted infrastructure and boost production from its estimated 300 billion barrels of reserves, which currently yield under one million barrels per day. Governance officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, said U.S. involvement could quickly raise output (the administration suggested a possible 50% uplift within 12-18 months) and help <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gas-prices-could-soar-again-as-oils-second-act-is-coming-expert-predicts\/\" title=\"Gas Prices Could Soar Again as \u201c...\u2019s Second Act\u201d Is Coming, Expert Predicts\">lower global oil prices<\/a>. Industry leaders, however, have been publicly quiet and express concerns about timing, returns, political stability, safety, lingering sanctions, and the risk of expropriation. Officials indicated financing would mostly come from private capital markets rather than direct U.S.government funding, and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >analysts warn revitalizing operations<\/a> will still require tens of billions of dollars and favorable market conditions (companies say oil needs to be roughly $70-75\/barrel to justify new drilling).  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump meets with oil executives in bid to boost US drilling in Venezuela<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> is meeting with executives from more than a dozen <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/4407515\/oil-industry-winners-maduro-capture\/\">oil and gas companies<\/a> on Friday, as he has called the industry to invest more than $100 billion in Venezuelan <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/energy-and-environment\/4407020\/trump-claims-venezuela-stole-us-oil-what-to-know\/\">oil operations<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Trump, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, was poised to meet with executives from U.S. oil majors Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and ConocoPhillips around midafternoon.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/4410291\/maduro-capture-venezuela-raid-about-oil-russia-china\/\">Venezuela raid is about the oil &mdash; keeping it from Russia and China<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/4409528\/warner-bros-tells-shareholders-reject-paramount-takeover-bid\/\">Warner Bros. tells shareholders to reject Paramount takeover bid again<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/4407252\/board-vote-dissolve-defunded-corporation-for-public-broadcasting\/\">Board vote dissolves defunded Corporation for Public Broadcasting<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Other firms expected to be represented in the meeting include Continental, Halliburton, HKN, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, Vitol Americas, Repsol, Eni, Aspect Holdings, Tallgrass, Raisa Energy, and Hilcorp, the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> confirmed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tpd-featured-video featured-post-video in-content bridtv\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2468551\" class=\"brid\" style=\"width:1280;height:720;\"> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tpd-featured-video-placeholder\" style=\"position:relative;overflow:hidden;width:100%;padding-top:56.25%;background-color:#000;\">\n<div style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;width:100%;height:100%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;Following the announcement of President Trump&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-will-sell-venezuelan-oil-indefinitely-and-remit-proceeds-wright-says\/\" title=\"US will sell ...n ... &#039;indefinitely&#039; and remit proceeds, Wright says\">historic energy deal<\/a> with Venezuela, American oil companies will come to the White House to discuss investment opportunities that will restore Venezuelan oil infrastructure,&rdquo; a White House spokesperson told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;The American people, energy companies, and the Venezuelan people will all greatly benefit from these new, unprecedented investments in Venezuela&rsquo;s oil infrastructure thanks to President Trump.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Venezuela&rsquo;s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/oil\/\">oil<\/a> reserves played a significant role in Trump&rsquo;s decision to capture former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro last weekend, with the president himself saying the removal of Maduro opens the opportunity for increased U.S. investment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Venezuela is estimated to have the largest oil reserves in the world, around 300 billion barrels. The country extracts fewer than a million barrels of oil per day, however, less than one-tenth of the top producers in the world.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has said that the U.S. oil industry could quickly increase these production levels, potentially by 50% within the next 12 to 18 months.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So you&rsquo;re going to see, probably, a growth in Chevron activities there quickly. You&rsquo;re going to see Conoco and Exxon and dozens of other American firms immediately looking at, &lsquo;Hey, what constructive role can we play? How can we be a little bit of help for existing operations?&rsquo;&rdquo; Wright told Fox Business on Thursday. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to work to look at what&rsquo;s going on in the industry and what productive advice and help can they give on that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Major oil companies, though, have been publicly silent all week.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the meeting, a lobbyist familiar with the discussions <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/energy-and-environment\/4410576\/oil-companies-fulfill-trump-call-revitalize-venezuela-industry\/\">told<\/a> the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that there was a clear disconnect between the administration&rsquo;s desire to expand U.S. operations in Venezuela and Big Oil&rsquo;s interest and ability to do so in the White House&rsquo;s proposed timeline.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of concerns and there seems to be a disconnect in the expectations of both interest in returning to Venezuela and in the timing, in the practicalities that it would take in order to accomplish the objectives of increasing Venezuelan production,&rdquo; the lobbyist said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There is widespread agreement that outside of lifting sanctions and the blockade, the administration <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/energy-and-environment\/4410576\/oil-companies-fulfill-trump-call-revitalize-venezuela-industry\/\">can do very little<\/a> over the span of a couple of days or even weeks to facilitate increased investments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Most, if not all, the major firms still have lingering questions about return on investment, commercial agreements, political stability, financial backing, and even basic physical safety.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re not gonna commit people to a country that could be dangerous when they can&rsquo;t guarantee safety,&rdquo; Ed Crook, Wood Mackenzie&rsquo;s Vice Chair Americas and host of the Energy Gang podcast, told the <em>Washington Examiner.<\/em> &ldquo;And they&rsquo;re not gonna be putting capital into a country where they think there&rsquo;s a high risk their assets will be expropriated again, as they have been by previous governments repeatedly in the past in Venezuela.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Trump teased some of these assurances earlier in the week, saying oil companies would be &ldquo;reimbursed&rdquo; for their investments.<\/p>\n<p>However, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum threw cold water on financial backing from the government just hours before executives arrived at the White House on Friday.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The capital is going to come from the capital markets and come from the energy companies,&rdquo; Burgum told Bloomberg Television. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see that these companies are going to need support from the U.S., other than things around security. If we can provide a secure, stable environment, the resource here is so significant and so large that it&rsquo;s going to be attractive for people to go in and develop.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Industry sources estimate that it will take tens of billions of dollars to revitalize U.S. drilling operations in Venezuela, as only one company, Chevron, has been operating in the country for the last few decades.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Trump took those estimates further early Friday morning, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/115864395969123502\">claiming<\/a> &ldquo;BIG OIL&rdquo; would be investing &ldquo;at least 100 billion dollars&rdquo; to rebuild Venezuela&rsquo;s oil and gas infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>Trump&rsquo;s efforts to increase U.S. drilling in Venezuela are tied to his own promise to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnn-says-biden-is-to-thank-for-falling-gas-prices-days-after-saying-it-was-out-of-his-control\/\" title=\"CNN Says ...en Is To Thank For Falling Gas Prices Days After Saying It Was Out Of His Control\">lower oil prices<\/a> and further drop prices at the pump, as domestic drillers have been unable to pursue new drilling under existing market conditions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/energy-and-environment\/4410576\/oil-companies-fulfill-trump-call-revitalize-venezuela-industry\/\">WHAT OIL COMPANIES NEED TO FULFILL TRUMP CALL TO REVITALIZE VENEZUELA&rsquo;S INDUSTRY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sources familiar with the matter <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/energy-oil\/trump-venezuela-oil-us-control-plan-265a39c1?mod=energy-oil_news_article_pos3\">told<\/a> the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> that the president has told aides in the White House he believes U.S. domination over the Venezuela oil market can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-rep-green-biden-willing-to-hold-back-on-stopping-putin-to-get-iran-deal-so-iran-will-release-oil\/\" title=\"GOP Rep. Green: ...en Willing to Hold Back on Stopping Putin to Get Iran Deal So Iran Will Release ...\">bring oil prices<\/a> to around $50 a barrel.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Oil and gas executives <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/4364938\/reality-trump-drill-baby-drill-agenda\/\">have repeatedly warned<\/a> that oil will need to sell around $70 and $75 per barrel to pursue new drilling opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump urges oil firms to revive Venezuela drilling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3452,"featured_media":2532048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-collage-vy47sg19d-1767984299881.jpg?1767967893&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[36468,70497,3634,70498,50813],"class_list":["post-2532047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-energy-policy","tag-oil-executives","tag-trump","tag-us-drilling","tag-venezuela-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-collage-vy47sg19d-1767984299881.jpg?1767967893&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2532047"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2532051,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532047\/revisions\/2532051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2532048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2532047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2532047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2532047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}