Overview
- At a White House meeting, President Trump positioned Washington as political and security guarantor and said the U.S. will decide which companies can work in Venezuela.
- Executives signaled caution, with ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods calling investment impossible under current legal and commercial structures, while others offered no firm pledges.
- Rystad Energy estimates roughly $183 billion is needed to lift output to 3 million barrels a day by 2040, including tens of billions in near‑term international capital.
- Eni and Repsol, which operate the Perla gas field supplying over half of Venezuela’s electricity, report billions in unpaid credits after U.S. sanctions blocked oil-for-payment channels, as Chevron continues under an exception.
- In Caracas, interim president Delcy Rodríguez moves to consolidate control with purges and proposed releases of political prisoners, facing resistance from security services, while Trump escalates pressure on Cuba by vowing no more Venezuelan oil or money.