Watch Trump meet with oil executives at the White House on Venezuela

President Donald Trump is meeting with more than a dozen oil companies at the White House on Friday afternoon to discuss plans to invest in Venezuela, less than a week after the United States ousted President Nicolas Maduro.

CEOs Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Shell and a representative Strip Sources told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan they agreed. Representatives halliburton, Valero And Marathon also available.

Trump said the United States will decide which oil companies will enter Venezuela. He said the White House would “make a deal with the companies” on Friday or shortly thereafter.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are also attending the meeting.

An industry source told CNBC that the White House has called the meeting. The source said this was not planned at the request of oil companies.

Immediately after Maduro’s ouster, Trump said US oil companies would invest billions of dollars to rebuild Venezuela’s energy sector. But the industry has remained mostly silent as the security situation and stability of the government in Caracas are still uncertain.

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, at 303 billion barrels, or about 17% of the global total, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

However, the oil sector is in dire need of maintenance. Production has fallen from a peak of about 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the 1990s to just around 800,000 bpd today, according to data from energy consulting firm Kpler.

Returning Venezuelan production to historic levels would cost tens of billions of dollars, Energy Secretary Wright told a Goldman Sachs conference in Miami on Wednesday. Rystad Energy estimates that it would cost more than $180 billion by 2040 for Venezuelan production to reach 3 million barrels per day.

Works at Chevron

The Trump administration has offered little detail on how it will encourage oil companies to make major investments in a country with a history of nationalizing industrial assets.

Chevron is the only U.S. oil company currently operating in Venezuela through a joint venture with state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Wright told CNBC on Wednesday that the US is working closely with Chevron.

“We’re getting daily updates as Chevron is on the ground,” Wright told CNBC. “They actually work [under] this regime. “How can we work with them to make incremental adjustments or changes that will allow their model to grow further,” the energy minister said.

Wright said Venezuelan production could increase by several hundred thousand barrels per day in the short to medium term with small capital investments.

Exxon and Conoco doubt

But Wright said Exxon and Conoco would need assurance to return to Venezuela. The companies left the country after former President Hugo Chavez seized their assets in 2007. They have billions of dollars in outstanding claims against the government that they won in arbitration cases.

Wright said Venezuela’s debts to Exxon and Conoco must be paid off at some point, but that is not an immediate priority for the Trump administration. The energy secretary said the White House is focused on stabilizing Venezuela’s economy through oil sales.

“We’re trying to turn Venezuela into a place where Americans want to do business, where they want to invest new capital, where they want to form new partnerships,” Wright said.

But it’s unclear whether the White House can persuade companies like Exxon and Conoco to return to Venezuela without a dramatic change in the government in Caracas.

“Big oil companies with slow-moving, corporate boards of directors are not interested,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday to the Economic Club of Minnesota. he said.

“I can tell you that independent oil companies and individuals, wild predators, our phones are ringing non-stop,” Bessent said. “They want to arrive in Venezuela yesterday.”

Benefit from oil sales

Wright said the United States took control of Venezuela’s oil exports to put pressure on the government in Caracas. The energy minister said Venezuela would ship tens of millions of barrels to the United States and the Trump administration would then sell them and keep the proceeds in U.S.-controlled accounts.

“We need to have that power and that control over oil sales to drive the changes that need to happen in Venezuela,” Wright said.

Energy minister says US is not stealing Venezuela’s oil. He said that the income from the sales will be used for the benefit of the nation of 30 million people. Trump said on Wednesday that revenue from oil would be used to purchase US-made products.

“I have just been informed that Venezuela will ONLY purchase American Made Products with the money they will receive from the new Oil Deal,” the president wrote on social media Wednesday.

The products to be purchased will include agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and equipment that will modernize Venezuela’s energy sector.

“In other words, Venezuela is committed to doing business with the United States as its primary partner,” Trump said.