President Donald Trump said Saturday that removing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power would unlock Venezuela’s vast oil resources, a development he said could significantly alter the global energy market.
Speaking during a public address, Trump said major U.S. oil companies would play a central role in rebuilding the country’s energy sector. He said American firms would invest billions of dollars to repair Venezuela’s deteriorated oil infrastructure and restore production levels.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure and start making money for the country,” Trump said. He added that Venezuela’s oil output had fallen far below its potential.
Trump’s remarks followed reports early Saturday of a dramatic U.S. military and law enforcement operation in Caracas that resulted in the capture of Maduro and strikes on parts of the Venezuelan capital.
Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world, estimated at roughly 300 billion barrels, according to the Energy Institute, a research organization. That figure exceeds the reserves of Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil producer within OPEC.