Energy secretary: US will sell Venezuelan oil ‘indefinitely’

AVENTURA, Florida — Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the United States will sell Venezuelan oil “indefinitely” after completing sales of the crude currently accumulating in storage there.

Wright said the proceeds from those sales would be “deposited into accounts controlled by the U.S. government” and then “flow back into Venezuela to benefit the Venezuelan people.” Wright made the statements even as the United States the same morning seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker that was linked to Venezuela.

“Instead of the oil being blockaded, as it is right now, we’re gonna let the oil flow … to United States refineries and around the world to bring better oil supplies, but have those sales done by the U.S. government,” he said at Goldman Sachs’ Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference.

“We’re going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela, first this backed-up stored oil, and then indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace,” Wright added.

The move would be a huge step up in the Trump administration’s moves to pressure Venezuela’s interim government and essentially have the United States take over the country’s oil industry. President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday that Wright would lead a U.S. plan to sell up to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan crude turned over to the U.S. by the country’s interim authorities, an amount market analysts estimated could yield up to $2.5 billion.

Wright said he has been in discussions with U.S. oil companies about the conditions they will require to return to Venezuela, acknowledging that restoring historic production levels in the country will require “tens of millions of dollars and significant time.”

The industry remains hesitant, however, given the capital — projected by analysts to be in the billions — and risk required to revive Venezuela’s dilapidated oil sector.

Wright said the U.S. would initially supply the chemicals required to get Venezuela’s sludgy crude flowing again, and it plans to work with the government to send supplies and equipment needed for a larger-scale revitalization.

Wright is expected to meet with several industry executives about Venezuela on the sidelines of the conference Wednesday. He is also expected to meet with oil companies Friday at the White House, along with Trump and other top administration officials.