 "Who will cover cost as Trump pushes US oil firms to invest in Venezuela? His hint —American taxpayers")
US President Donald Trump has said that American taxpayers could cover the costs of rebuilding Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, as questions around the country’s reserves and control over them after Nicolas Maduro’s arrest gain prominence.
Talking to NBC News, Trump said “a lot of money” will need to be spent to increase oil production in Venezuela. “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,” he said.
Meanwhile, US Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright is expected to meet with oil companies’ executives in the coming days to discuss Venezuelan oil reserves.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Wright is scheduled to hold meetings with the executives at the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference in Miami.
US govt to meet oil companies
The administration of President Donald Trump is planning to meet with executives from US oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production, according to a report by Reuters.
The meetings are crucial to the administration’s hopes of getting top US oil companies back into the South American nation after its government, nearly two decades ago, took control of US-led energy operations there.
The three biggest US oil companies - Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron - have not yet had any conversations with the administration about Maduro’s ouster, according to four oil industry executives familiar with the matter, contradicting Trump’s statements over the weekend that he had already held meetings with “all” the US oil companies, both before and since Maduro was seized.
“Nobody in those three companies has had conversations with the White House about operating in Venezuela, pre-removal or post-removal to this point,” one of the sources said on Monday.
Maduro pleads not guilty
Maduro has pleaded not guilty in a US court, insisting that he is still the president of the country. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured by the US military over the weekend in a dramatic operation ordered by US President Donald Trump.
Maduro, 63, told a federal judge in Manhattan, “I’m innocent. I’m not guilty,” as he appeared in court for a hearing on charges of drug trafficking and other crimes. His wife similarly pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
Smiling as he entered the courtroom, Maduro spoke softly, wearing an orange shirt with beige trousers.
“I’m president of the Republic of Venezuela and I’m here kidnapped since January 3, Saturday,” Maduro told the court, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter. “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.”
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