Trump offers first timeline for expanded US oil company operations in Venezuela

President Trump predicted Monday that in less than 18 months American oil companies will have an increased presence — and could already be “up and running” — in Venezuela.

“I think we can do it in less time than that, but it’ll be a lot of money,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News. 

“A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue,” the president added.

Shortly after the successful US military operation Saturday to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, Trump declared that Americans would have a presence in the South American country “as it pertains to oil.”

Trump said American companies would need to rebuild Venezuela’s crumbling infrastructure before tapping into the nation’s rich oil reserves.

Chevron is the only major US oil company currently operating in Venezuela. 

ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil both left Venezuela nearly 20 years ago when Maduro’s socialist predecessor, Hugo Chávez, nationalized their assets. 

“It’ll be a very substantial amount of money,” Trump said of the what oil companies will need to invest in Venezuela. “But they’ll do very well.”

“And the country will do well.”

The president argued that expanding drilling in Venezuela will “reduce oil prices.”

“Having a Venezuela that’s an oil producer is good for the United States because it keeps the price of oil down,” Trump said. 

Trump administration officials did not give American oil companies a heads up prior to the military operation in Venezuela but had been “talking to the concept of, ‘what if we did it?’” according to the commander-in-chief.  

“The oil companies were absolutely aware that we were thinking about doing something,” Trump said. “But we didn’t tell them we were going to do it.”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is slated to meet with executives from Exxon and ConocoPhillips later this week to talk Venezuelan oil, according to Bloomberg News.

Wright has been tasked with leading the Trump administration efforts to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, NBC News reported, citing a White House official.