Venezuela oil output can rise 30% in near-term, US energy secretary tells executives

By Dmitry Zhdannikov

DAVOS, Jan 21 (Reuters) – U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told oil company executives on Wednesday that Venezuela’s output can rise 30% from its current level of 900,000 barrels per day in the short- to medium-term, three executives who attended the meeting said.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants U.S. oil executives to invest $100 billion to fix Venezuela’s dilapidated oil industry and increase output, a key objective for Washington after U.S. forces seized Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro in a raid earlier this month. 

Years of under-investment and sanctions have seen Venezuela’s oil output plummet. It pumped 3.5 million bpd in the 1970s when it accounted for 7% of global supply, but today represents just 1% of world output. 

Wright’s closed-door meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

LITTLE IMPACT

An increase of 300,000 barrels per day would have little impact on the global market, one person at the meeting said. Global oil supply was 106 million barrels per day in 2025.

Wright also told the group that the world would need all energy resources including renewables to meet rapid demand growth, another executive said.  

Wright has said the U.S. plans to control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely. So far, Washington has done deals with trading houses Vitol and Trafigura to move 50 million barrels of oil that were stuck on tankers or in storage after a month-long U.S. blockade on Venezuelan oil exports.

The U.S. has become the world’s largest energy producer thanks to fast-growing shale oil and gas, which allows companies to quickly adjust production depending on prices. Major rival producers Saudi Arabia and Russia mostly rely on less-flexible conventional oil production, which can take decades to develop.

Venezuela sits on mostly heavy oil reserves, which are relatively expensive and difficult to extract.

“You have to heat the ground, dilute crude, heat the pipelines to transport Venezuelan oil. It takes a lot of time and money,” one of the executives present at the meeting said.

Another said U.S. and other companies would face challenges around safety, inspection and standards should they come to Venezuela, as most equipment is outdated. 

Trump met with over 15 oil executives earlier this month, with Exxon CEO Darren Woods telling Trump that Venezuela would need to change its laws before it could be an attractive investment opportunity.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Writing by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Joe Bavier, Kirsten Donovan)