U.S. oil companies demand strong guarantees before Venezuelan investment

The Financial Times reported the information.

President Donald Trump is working to convince America's largest oil companies to invest heavily in Venezuela, but industry leaders are approaching his ambitious plan with significant caution. The administration held high-level discussions with energy executives in Miami on Wednesday, with another White House meeting scheduled for Friday.

The timing is dramatic: Trump recently seized control of Venezuela's oil sector and ordered the capture of a Russian tanker in the north Atlantic, demonstrating what one analyst called America's growing influence over global energy markets. The White House announced it would control Venezuelan oil indefinitely, taking charge of resources from a founding OPEC member.

However, oil executives are demanding substantial commitments before deploying capital. "No one wants to go in there when a random f*cking tweet can change the entire foreign policy of the country," said one private equity investor specializing in energy.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright met with senior officials from Chevron and ConocoPhillips, delivering Trump's message that major oil companies must invest billions in Venezuela's deteriorating energy infrastructure. While the administration signaled it would ease sanctions and allow American oilfield services companies to operate there, Wright acknowledged at the Goldman Sachs conference in Miami that oil giants won't be putting billions into new Venezuelan infrastructure immediately.

A senior executive at a large U.S. energy company emphasized the stakes: "There would have to be some serious guarantees from the government to get the big boys back in Venezuela. It's going to take a while to see real investment in the country and then longer to get production up."

The concerns run deep. Amos Hochstein, a former Biden administration adviser, pointed out the timeline problem: companies would invest for three years before seeing returns, by which time Trump will no longer be president. He questioned whether companies even know who their legitimate counterparties would be in Venezuela.

Neil McMahon of energy investment group Kimmeridge said firms need formal financial guarantees before committing funds. "Companies are all concerned about what legal framework these new contracts would take just given the fact they have been burnt so many times before," he explained.

Another private equity investor summed up the industry's position bluntly: "This government's basically going to have to guarantee it. Short of something like that, no investor, no public company that has shareholders can put their capital to work in a country that doesn't have real laws and takes profits and confiscates assets."

Chevron, currently the only American company licensed to export Venezuelan crude, has been notably cautious. The company's finance chief offered no indication of near-term expansion plans during closed-door investor remarks Tuesday.

Executives from Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips are among those expected to attend Friday's White House meeting, where the tension between Trump's geopolitical ambitions and industry risk assessment will likely take center stage.