Energy Secretary Chris Wright says at least a dozen American oil companies are ready to get to work rebuilding Venezuela’s oil industry, including majors and a few “wildcatters,” but he also said the U.S. was not providing them security guarantees.
“You’ve got five big ones that are there that are going to rapidly increase their production and probably another six to a dozen that are like, hey, we’re ready to go,” Wright told Fox’s The Sunday Briefing.
Top oil executives met President Trump at the White House on Friday, when Exxon’s CEO said instability in Venezuela made the region uninvestable for the time being. Exxon and other oil companies have had assets seized by Venezuela over the years. Wright called Exxon’s comments the outlier.