President Donald Trump said that the United States will begin drilling for oil in Venezuela “very soon.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “We are going to start drilling very soon. We have the biggest companies in the world, and they are going to go in. They are all negotiating now.”
“We’re moving in, you know, to the United States, millions of barrels of oil as we speak,” he added. “Over 50 million barrels of oil is already moved or moving into the United States and much more to come.
“And we’re working with them,” Trump noted, “and it’ll be divided up, and our country will become richer, and that means our taxes are going to be going down, and they will do better. Venezuela is going to do better than they’ve ever done.”
Earlier this month, President Trump wrote that Venezuelan authorities would be “turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.”
“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” he wrote.
Some oil companies, like ExxonMobil, are considering a return to Venezuela. “With respect to Venezuela in particular, we have a very long history in Venezuela, ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said on January 9. “In fact, we first got into Venezuela back in the 1940s. We’ve had our assets seized there twice. And so, you can imagine to re‑enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve historically seen here and what is currently the state.”
