Realizing President Donald Trump’s plan for a US-led revival of Venezuela’s beleaguered oil industry could be a years-long and challenging process costing upwards of $100 billion.
Years of corruption, underinvestment, fires and thefts have left the nation’s crude infrastructure in tatters. Rebuilding it enough to lift Venezuela’s output back to its peak levels of the 1970s would require companies that could include Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips to invest about $10 billion per year over the next decade, said Francisco Monaldi, director of Latin American energy policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest oil reserves. But output plummeted during the 12-year term of President Nicolás Maduro, who was captured early Saturday by US troops. The nation currently produces about 1 million barrels a day, compared to nearly 4 million barrels in 1974.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during an interview with ABC Sunday that he expects US oil companies will be eager for the opportunity to drill for Venezuela’s heavy crude, which is key for refineries on the US Gulf Coast.
Source: Financeyahoo