Donald Trump has suggested that US taxpayers could reimburse energy companies for repairing Venezuelan infrastructure for oil extraction and shipping. The president said a 'tremendous amount of money' would need to be spent to increase production after US forces ousted Nicolás Maduro, and that oil companies could be repaid by the government or through revenue.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright reportedly plans to meet representatives of Chevron, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil at a conference in Miami this week to discuss increasing Venezuelan production. The meetings are seen as crucial to the Trump administration's hopes of getting top oil companies back into the South American nation after its government nationalised US-led operations nearly two decades ago.
However, the three biggest US oil companies have not yet had any conversations with the administration about Maduro's removal, according to Reuters sources. This contradicts Trump's claims over the weekend that he had already held meetings with 'all' the US oil companies. 'Nobody in those three companies has had conversations with the White House about operating in Venezuela, pre-removal or post-removal to this point,' one source said.
Venezuela currently produces about 1.1 million barrels of oil a day, down from 3.5 million in 1999 before a government takeover. Analysts say achieving higher production will require years of work and billions of dollars of investment, hindered by poor infrastructure and political uncertainty.
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said all US oil companies are 'ready and willing to make big investments in Venezuela that will rebuild their oil infrastructure, which was destroyed by the illegitimate Maduro regime.' Trump told NBC News it was 'too soon' to say if he had personally spoken to top executives at the three firms.
The S&P 500 energy index rose to its highest since March 2025 on Monday, with ExxonMobil up 2.2% and Chevron jumping 5.1%. Chevron is currently the only US major operating in Venezuela's oilfields.
