U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Friday that Chevron saw a pathway to grow its Venezuela production by 50%, with his comments coming after a meeting that President Donald Trump had with oil companies on the South American nation.
Chevron “said with the actions that were taken and some additional things we can do for them,.. which is just permissions, approvals,” Wright said. He added that the company sees “a pathway to grow their production by 50% in the next 18-24 months.”
Wright also said that Washington’s interactions with Venezuela have been “fantastic” after ousted leader Nicolas Maduro was seized by the U.S. military in a raid in the South American country last weekend.
Trump met with executives from some of the world’s largest oil companies at the White House on Friday to discuss Venezuela. “Tremendous interest,” Wright said when asked if the White House received any firm commitments from oil companies on Friday.
Trump ordered the U.S. military to seize Maduro, who was brought to New York.
The U.N. human rights office has said the U.S. actions in Venezuela were a violation of international law that made the world less safe.
Trump said this week the U.S. will maintain oversight of Venezuela for “much longer” than a year. Administration officials have expressed a desire to control Venezuela’s oil sales and revenues indefinitely, saying it will ensure the country acts in America’s interests. Some U.S. rivals and Latin American nations have cast the U.S. actions as “unilateral, illegal and bullying acts.”
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)