U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright travelled to Caracas on Tuesday night to finalize the historic oil deal between the United States and Venezuela announced this weekend.
“Just touched down in Venezuela,” Sec. Wright wrote on social media. “President Trump’s energy diplomacy is delivering results — advancing new energy deals, opening the door for American companies, and strengthening energy security across our hemisphere.”
“American energy leadership is back thanks to President Donald Trump,” he continued.
The one-day trip marks the second time that Sec. Wright has visited Venezuela this year following the arrest of deposed socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro. According to the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, Sec. Wright was received upon landing by Hydrocarbons Minister Paula Henao and U.S. Chargé d’Affaires John Barrett. The Venezuelan socialist regime has not publicly provided additional details of Sec. Wright’s agenda in Caracas at press time.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday night, Sec. Wright said that the investment deals in Venezuela will bring “peace, opportunity, and prosperity” to the people of Venezuela and the Untied States. Per AFP, Sec. Wright detailed that “several deals” will be announced on Wednesday.
“This is rejoining the partnership between the United States and the people of Venezuela,” he said.
Sec. Wright’s visit to Venezuela occurs days after President Donald Trump announced a historic oil agreement with Venezuela that grants the U.S. control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s vast proven oil reserves. Acting President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez thanked Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the deal during a televised address to the nation on Sunday, emphasizing that the deal will provide Venezuela with a vast list of benefits and turn the South American nation into an energy “powerhouse.”
Sec. Wright provided further details on the oil agreement during an interview with CNBC on Wednesday morning. Wright explained that the new deal will not displace or replace private companies, stressing that U.S. involvement benefits the American taxpayer with discounted oil and “enormous reserves.” Wright further pointed out that the U.S. government will not be the operator or producer of the receives, as it is a deal between the U.S. government and a Venezuelan company to help develop the resources.
The U.S. energy secretary reiterated his past estimations that Venezuela oil production will increase by 50 percent within the next 12 to 18 months following the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, and affirmed, “I stand by that prediction.”
“Today, it’s over 1.2 million barrels a day. I think we’ll be well over a million and a half barrels a day by the first half of next year. And Venezuelan production will be over two million barrels a day by the end of this decade,” Sec. Wright said. “So, a lot of growth in Venezuelan oil production. This is downward pressure on oil prices globally.”
Wright further explained that Venezuela was the largest oil exporter in the world when U.S. refineries were built based on Venezuelan crude in the 1960s and 1970s. Wright emphasized to CNBC that President Trump’s broader agenda in the Americas and the Western Hemisphere is to return peaceful relations across North and South America after the past decades.
“But he [Trump] is iconoclastic. And I think we are seeing an absolutely historic transformation of both Venezuela and the relations between Venezuela and the United States,” Sec. Wright said.
In a separate interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday morning, Sec. Wright stressed that the United States will show the prospect of economic growth in Venezuela and bring both countries together after 25 years of communist corruption, poverty, and eight million people fleeing the country. Wright reiterated that U.S. refineries were built based on Venezuelan oil. As such, he detailed, an increase in oil production in Venezuela is a win for the country and a “massive” win for energy buyers in the United States.
The Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional, citing information from an unnamed U.S. government official, reports that Sec. Wright’s visit will also see California-based Chevron sign a new contract at Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt, the location of the majority of Venezuela’s oil reserves.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.