Trump to meet with oil executives about Venezuela on Friday
Trump said US oil companies will be able to invest heavily in Venezuela after Maduro's ouster
Oil giants head to Trump White House for high-stakes Venezuela talks
Alabama GOP gubernatorial candidate Tommy Tuberville weighs in on oil executives meeting with President Trump and the White House and discusses the current status of Venezuela on ‘The Evening Edit.’
President Donald Trump will meet with executives from major U.S. oil companies on Friday, a White House official told FOX Business.
The planned meeting comes after the president said that oil firms would make significant investments in Venezuela following the special forces raid that apprehended Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro over the weekend.
Chevron is currently the only U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela, while ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil had operations in the country before the regime nationalized their assets.
Leading U.S. oil companies are yet to outline plans for investing in Venezuela or the steps needed to secure those investments to allow oil production to ramp up in the country as it faces an uncertain future.
MADURO'S CAPTURE PUTS CUBA'S VENEUZELAN OIL-DEPENDENT ECONOMY AT RISK
The Venezuelan oil industry has stagnated over the last decade amid mismanagement and sanctions. (Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Venezuela's oil output has fallen significantly over the last decade due to the socialist government's mismanagement of the state-owned oil company.
Data from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) shows that Venezuelan production of crude oil was consistently above 2 million barrels per day from 2005 through 2016, when it began a marked decline – dipping below the 1.5 million barrel threshold in 2018 and falling under 1 million barrels in 2019.
MADURO'S REMOVAL COULD REVERSAL DECADES OF ECONOMIC STRUGGLES FOR VENEZUELANS
President Trump said the U.S. will be in charge of Venezuela during the government transition. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
President Trump has said the U.S. will be "in charge" of Venezuela following Maduro's removal while a transition to a new government occurs.
Trump on Tuesday said in a social media post that Venezuelan oil will be immediately turned over to the U.S., saying that "Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America."
"This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States! I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately. It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States," Trump explained.
DEFENSE SPENDING COULD RISE FOLLOWING US ARREST OF VENEZUELA'S MADURO, ANALYST SAYS
Venezuela's oil industry could ramp up production in the next few years with U.S. investment. (Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images)
Analysts have questioned how quickly oil companies will be able to ramp up oil production in Venezuela, due to a long period of underinvestment in the industry's infrastructure in the country.
U.S. support and sanctions relief could boost production in the near term, with analysts suggesting output could rise by up to half a million barrels per day in the next two years in a scenario where political stability enables investment by U.S. companies.
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Reuters contributed to this report.