President Donald Trump will meet with U.S. oil executives on Friday over plans for Venezuela's oil sector, the White House said, days after the raid that toppled the country's leader, Nicolas Maduro.
"The meeting is on Friday, and it's just a meeting to discuss, obviously, the immense opportunity that is before these oil companies right now," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Venezuela's state petroleum firm said on Jan. 7 that it was negotiating the sale of crude oil to the United States, following Washington's demand for access to the country's reserves.
"Negotiations are under way with the United States for the sale of volumes of oil within the framework of existing commercial relations between the two countries," the firm, PDVSA, said in a statement.
"This process is taking place under a model similar to those that apply with international companies."
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Jan. 7, however, that Washington would control sales of Venezuelan oil "indefinitely.”
Trump announced on Jan. 6 that Venezuela's interim leaders had agreed to U.S.-managed marketing of 30-50 million barrels of crude.
Wright suggested sanctions on the country's oil sector would be waived to facilitate the export of its oil.
Analysts said shipping oil to the United States would lower the risk that Caracas would have to cut output owing to its limited storage capacity, easing supply concerns.
Venezuela claims to sit on about a fifth of the world's oil reserves, but experts said efforts to quickly ramp up output would face challenges, including its creaking infrastructure, low prices and political uncertainty.
The United States on Jan. 7 laid out what it called an "energy deal" with Venezuela, saying it will partially roll back sanctions to allow the sale of oil products from the South American country.
The details were shared in a Department of Energy fact sheet.
Trump also said on social media on Jan. 7 that Venezuela will be buying only US-made products with the money they receive from "our new Oil Deal," including potential purchases of agricultural goods, medicine and energy equipment.
Already, the U.S. government has started marketing Venezuelan crude oil internationally, the Energy Department said.
It added that all proceeds from the sale of the crude oil and oil products will "first settle in U.S. controlled accounts at globally recognized banks."
"These funds will be disbursed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the US government," the department said, without providing further details.
