Jan 9 (Reuters) – U.S. oil executives who will be summoned to the White House on Friday to discuss possible investment plans in Venezuela will be carefully assessing the country’s business potential and President Donald Trump’s enthusiasm, with a more cautious sentiment being expressed by some of its investors.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, speaking at a Goldman Sachs energy conference in Miami this week, repeated a Trump claim that U.S. oil companies were prepared to spend billions of dollars to rebuild the South American country’s oil economy after U.S. forces removed Nicolas Maduro from power on Saturday.
However, some energy investors were skeptical and questioned the cost of any such spending in Venezuela, which holds the world’s largest estimated oil reserves. They also had ongoing concerns about the country’s political stability and whether they could trust the interim government in Caracas, which is being led by Delcy Rodriguez.
“Investors will want to see lasting stability and good fiscal conditions to protect themselves against the risk of asset nationalization, which we have seen in Venezuela in the past,” said David Byrns, portfolio manager and senior investment analyst at American Century Investments, which is a major shareholder in Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
Several participants in private meetings held by Chevron and ConocoPhillips at the Miami conference told Reuters that executives from those companies offered little information about Venezuela, but made the following clear: they did not intend to make any hasty decisions.
Chevron and Conoco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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On Friday, Trump is expected to ask oil executives to invest and help increase Venezuela’s oil production during a meeting attended by Wright, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and 17 major companies. Companies represented will include ConocoPhillips, Exxon, Chevron, along with Spain’s Repsol and trading firms Vitol and Trafigura, according to sources familiar with the matter.
“The American people, energy companies and the Venezuelan people will benefit greatly from these unprecedented new investments in Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, thanks to President Trump,” said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers.
Chevron already operates in the country, but Exxon and Conoco left the country almost 20 years ago, after their assets were nationalized, and still have billions of dollars in debt.
