Doug Burgum, the Interior secretary, traveled to Venezuela on Wednesday as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to boost oil production and expand U.S. investments there.
Mr. Burgum, who leads the White House National Energy Dominance Council, will meet with Delcy Rodríguez, the acting president of Venezuela, the White House confirmed.
He also will meet with U.S. and Venezuelan oil, gas and mining companies, “and work toward a legitimate mining sector,” in the country, according to the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
Mr. Burgum is expected to announce a deal related to rare earth minerals on Thursday, Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, confirmed. She declined to release further details.
In January, U.S. forces captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and President Trump promised to open up Venezuela’s oil industry to U.S. companies.
Venezuela has about 17 percent of the world’s known oil reserves — more than 300 billion barrels, a larger total than any other country. But its production is only about 1 percent of the world total.
That is partly because of decades of underinvestment, mismanagement and U.S. sanctions, and partly because Venezuela’s tar-like oil is difficult and expensive to refine.
The administration has urged U.S. oil companies to spend about $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela’s production and refining capacity.
Lisa Friedman is a Times reporter who writes about how governments are addressing climate change and the effects of those policies on communities.
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