Efforts by President Donald Trump to marshal at least $100 billion in private sector investment to revive Venezuela’s troubled oil industry have been met with notable caution from big oil companies in the US, underscoring deep unease about returning to a nation long plagued by political instability, legal uncertainty and dilapidated energy infrastructure.
At a high-profile White House meeting where Trump urged executives from Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and others to take a lead role in rebuilding Venezuela’s oil production, the administration’s bold appeal was tempered by a subdued industry response, BBC reported on Saturday.
In the meeting, Trump framed the opportunity as historic and commercially compelling, promising security guarantees and portraying Venezuela as ripe for capital deployment after years of neglect. He emphasised that the $100 billion would come from private industry, not US government funding, and pledged “total safety” for companies willing to enter or expand operations there.
Despite the president’s entreaties, several CEOs stopped short of offering firm commitments. Executives raised concerns about Venezuela’s underlying business environment, pointing to the lasting legacy of asset seizures, unresolved legal frameworks and the daunting task of repairing oil fields that have suffered from decades of underinvestment. One industry chief described the country as “uninvestable” under current conditions, saying that lasting reforms to legal and commercial structures would be needed before a major capital influx could be justified.
Chevron, the only major US oil firm still active in Venezuela, struck a more positive note about potential growth, indicating it could increase output by roughly half within a couple of years if conditions were right. Other firms, including some smaller independents and European partners, expressed interest in marketing Venezuelan crude or participating in parts of the energy value chain. But none signaled readiness to immediately deploy tens of billions of dollars into the oil-rich nation’s reconstruction.
The cautious industry stance reflects a broader calculation that the risks in Venezuela remain substantial. Political uncertainty persists following the ouster of long-time leader Nicolás Maduro and ongoing tensions over governance and control of resources. Past expropriations by the Venezuelan state have left deep scars and unsettled claims, and the cost of rehabilitating pipelines, refineries and fields that once made Venezuela a top global producer is formidable.
Analysts said the current low levels of oil prices and abundant global supplies further diminish the immediate appeal of such a massive bet, at least without firmer guarantees and clearer pathways to profits. For the Trump administration, which has tied its Venezuela strategy to broader geopolitical goals and domestic energy narratives, the lukewarm industry response underscores that translating political ambition into private investment will be a complex and uphill process.