Trump to Meet with Oil Executives at White House on Venezuela

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is set to meet with more than a dozen oil executives at the White House on Friday to discuss plans for investment in Venezuela. The Trump administration hopes to secure $100 billion in backing from Big Oil companies to revitalize Venezuela’s expansive oil reserves and capabilities.

Since the U.S. military operation to capture deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, President Trump has transitioned to depicting the raid as an economic opportunity for the U.S.

The CEOs of ConocoPhillips, Shell, Exxon, and representatives from Valero, Halliburton, Marathon, and Chevron will attend, according to sources who spoke with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan.

The oil industry has previously expressed serious concerns about funding billions of dollars into restoration plans for Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, which are intended to last over the course of a decade.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, at 303 billion barrels, or approximately 17% of the world's total.

Despite the potential prosperity, the industry has mostly remained silent due to the current security situation and the gloomy stability of the nation’s government.

Most recently, the White House has announced the seizure of three oil tankers transporting Venezuelan crude oil, stating that the US government will control the sales of 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil previously sanctioned. The US will indefinitely be taking over transactions globally.

The White House has set the meeting for 2:30 p.m. EST, and it will be conducted privately.

“At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” President Trump shared Friday in a social media post.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will be in attendance as well.