The energy secretary, Chris Wright, said on Wednesday that the United States intended to maintain significant control over Venezuela’s oil industry, including by overseeing the sale of the country’s production “indefinitely.”
“Going forward we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace,” Mr. Wright said at a Goldman Sachs energy conference near Miami.
Mr. Wright’s remarks came after President Trump said late Tuesday that Venezuela would soon hand over tens of millions of barrels of oil to the United States.
Venezuela would send 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil, or up to two months’ worth of daily production, to the United States, Mr. Trump said in a social media post, adding that he would control the profits from those sales.
It was not immediately clear what legal authority the Trump administration would operate under. As of Wednesday morning, leaders in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, had not commented publicly on the U.S. government’s plans.
Mr. Wright said the Trump administration was in “active dialogue” with Venezuela’s leadership, as well as U.S. oil giants that have operated in the country.
Executives from some of the largest Western oil producers are expecting to meet Mr. Trump at the White House on Friday afternoon, according to people familiar with the plans.
Mr. Wright echoed outside estimates forecasting that Venezuela could potentially boost oil production by several hundred thousand barrels per day relatively quickly. But more substantial increases above current output levels of around 1 million barrels per day would take much longer, even if international oil companies were ready to invest more money in the country.
“To get back to the historical production numbers, that takes tens of billions of dollars and significant time,” Mr. Wright said. “But why not?”
Emma Bubola, Kenneth P. Vogel and Ivan Penn contributed reporting.
Rebecca F. Elliott covers energy for The Times.
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