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US Energy Secretary Chris Wright promised a “dramatic increase” in energy in Venezuela on Wednesday oil output as part of a plan to “Make America Great Again.”
Wright met with interim leader Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas, becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit Venezuela since captured and overthrown by US special forces socialist leader Nicolas Maduro January 3.
After the conversation with Rodriguez, who took over from Maduro and established a cooperative relationship with the American president Donald TrumpWright told reporters that relations between nations “are at the center of history.”
“I believe we will see an absolutely dramatic turnaround in the trajectory of this nation, in the state of relations between Venezuela and the United States, and in the business conditions in the hemisphere for trade and trade“, he added.
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In an earlier meeting with Rodriguez and oil industry executives, Wright insisted Trump was “passionately committed” to transforming ties between the two former enemies.
Rodriguez said she supports a “long-term productive partnership” that is “beneficial to both countries.”
Trump approved former Vice President Rodriguez to replace Maduro on the condition that she meet his demands for access to Venezuela’s vast oil resources and easing of state repression.
Venezuela, once a major supplier of crude oil to the United States, has the world’s largest proven reserves at more than 303 billion barrels, according to the global oil cartel OPEC.
This amounts to approximately a fifth of the world’s oil reserves.
But in 2024, South American However, the country produced only about one percent of the world’s crude — its industry left depleted by years of underinvestment, mismanagement and U.S. sanctions.
Wright said on Wednesday that the US oil embargo on Venezuela, which has been in place since 2019, is “essentially over”.
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‘Historical differences’
Trump wants major U.S. oil companies to quickly rebuild the sector and increase output by millions of barrels a day, saying the United States and Caracas will share the profits.
The United States made the first sale of Venezuelan oil last month, earning the Caribbean country $500 million.
Wright called for a “dramatic increase” in oil, natural gas and electricity production in Venezuela, which would improve “employment opportunities, wages and quality of life” for all Venezuelans.
He said he and Rodriguez “had a very frank discussion about the tremendous opportunities ahead” as well as the challenges.
The president of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, Venezuela’s diplomatic representative to the United States and the US chargé d’affaires in Caracas joined the talks on Wednesday.
Rodriguez said she welcomed the opportunity for their two countries “to address their historical differences in a mature way.”
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A dramatic meltdown
Wright’s visit to Caracas comes amid a dramatic thaw in US-Venezuelan relations, which Caracas severed in 2019 after Washington refused to recognize Maduro as the winner of a botched election.
In a series of landmark reforms since Maduro’s fall, Rodriguez opened the nationalized oil sector to private investment last month.
On Thursday, Parliament could adopt a landmark law granting amnesty to political prisoners.
For its part, Washington has eased sanctions on the Venezuelan oil industry, allowing US companies to work with PDVSA and the government.
The challenge now is to convince oil companies to invest in Venezuela despite ongoing political instability, security concerns and the need for large investments to restore production capacity.
The country was producing 1.2 million barrels of oil a day in 2025 — down from an all-time low of about 360,000 in 2020 — but still a far cry from the 3.0 million barrels a day it pumped 25 years ago.
Rodriguez’s government intends to increase production by an additional 18 percent this year.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
