According to US President Donald Trump, US oil companies may expand their presence in Venezuela within 18 months, and they may even be “up and running” sooner. 

“I think we can do it in less time than that, but it’ll be a lot of money,” Trump told NBC News. “A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.”
 

The remarks followed a US military operation on Saturday that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Trump stated that Americans would be present in the nation “as it pertains to oil,” but he pointed out that before utilizing Venezuela’s abundant oil reserves, businesses would need to rebuild its deteriorating infrastructure. 

As of right now, the only significant US oil company doing business in Venezuela is Chevron. Nearly 20 years ago, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil departed after Hugo Chávez nationalized their assets.

“It’ll be a very substantial amount of money,” Trump said of the investments needed. “But they’ll do very well. And the country will do well.” He added that expanded drilling in Venezuela could help reduce oil prices.

Additionally, Trump admitted that American oil companies knew the administration was thinking about a military operation, but he claimed they weren’t told beforehand. 

Later this week, Exxon and ConocoPhillips executives will meet with Energy Secretary Chris Wright to talk about Venezuelan oil, according to NBC News. The administration’s efforts to reconstruct Venezuela’s oil infrastructure are being spearheaded by Wright.