Trump's Venezuela oil plan: Will Texas immediately benefit from rebuilding Venezuela's oil infrastructure?
President Trump said in a news conference Saturday that the U.S. would "run" Venezuela temporarily, and "get the oil flowing," after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife during an overnight raid.
Maduro and his wife were brought to the U.S. to face criminal charges stemming from what prosecutors have alleged is their participation in a conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and to import "thousands of tons" of cocaine to the U.S.
Mr. Trump said the "whole infrastructure" of Venezuela, a nation with one of the world's largest petroleum reserves, has to be rebuilt and that American companies would be used to rebuild it.
Rebuilding Venezuela's oil infrastructure
"We're going to rebuild the oil infrastructure, which will cost billions of dollars," Mr. Trump said. "It'll be paid for by the oil companies directly. They will be reimbursed for what they're doing, but that's going to be paid. And we're going to get the oil flowing the way it should be."
Ed Hirs, an energy fellow for the University of Houston, said that rebuilding Venezuela's oil infrastructure could, in addition to costing billions of dollars, take many years, and it likely would not have an immediate short-term impact on prices or drilling in Texas.
"It's not going to change the price of gasoline or diesel prices soon. It's not going to lead to more drilling in West Texas, or less drilling," said Hirs. "This is much more a story of the Venezuelan population, the Venezuelan government, regime change to put the nation back on track."
The U.S. blockade of sanctioned oil tankers
The U.S. seized multiple vessels it alleges were transporting sanctioned oil in international waters, and the White House announced last month a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela.
"What you're seeing right now is an oil quarantine that allows us to exert tremendous leverage over what happens next," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."
Rubio said the "quarantine" allows the U.S. to seize sanctioned oil shipments with a court order and offers "a tremendous amount of leverage that will continue to be in place until we see changes that not just further the national interest of the United States, which is number one, but also that lead to a better future for the people of Venezuela."
A multi-billion dollar challenge
"To accomplish the president's goals, it will require billions of dollars of reinvestment, rebuilding Venezuela's oil infrastructure," said Hirs. "That will take years."
Mr. Trump did not provide additional details about how the U.S. would oversee Venezuela, under what authority or whether the U.S. would play a role in picking a new leader. He did indicate that top administration officials, including Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, would work with a "team" working with the Venezuelan people. He did not say who would be included in that group.
In an interview Saturday evening, "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth what that may look like.
"President Trump sets the terms. And ultimately, he'll decide what the iterations are of that," Hegseth said. "But, it means the drugs stop flowing, it means the oil that was taken from us is returned, ultimately, and that criminals are not sent to the United States."
So far, the administration has not presented any evidence that Venezuela is sending its prisoners to the U.S.
When asked about the blockade of sanctioned oil from Venezuela imposed by Mr. Trump last month, Hegseth said no oil is going in or out of the country, and the U.S. military is still poised in the Caribbean.
Hirs does not see this as a financial windfall for U.S. oil and gas, for now. Currently, only one U.S. oil company operates in Venezuela: Chevron.
"Chevron remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets. We continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations," Chevron spokesman Bill Turenne said in a statement to the Associated Press.
ConocoPhillips spokesperson Dennis Nuss said by email to the AP that the company "is monitoring developments in Venezuela and their potential implications for global energy supply and stability. It would be premature to speculate on any future business activities or investments."