Wright’s trip comes as President Donald Trump’s administration continues lifting sanctions to allow foreign companies to operate in Venezuela’s energy sector, according to the AP report.
Wright arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday for what he described as a firsthand assessment of changes to the country’s oil industry, starting with a meeting at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. The U.S. energy secretary met with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, and he was expected to hold additional meetings with government officials and oil executives during a three-day visit, the report said.
Wright told reporters that he brought what he characterized as a message from Trump, describing an agenda he said aims to “absolutely transform[] the relationship between the United States and Venezuela.” He said the effort is intended to bring the countries “closer together” and support commerce, peace, prosperity, jobs, and opportunity for people in Venezuela, according to his remarks.
Rodríguez, who was sworn into her role after what the AP report described as the Jan. 3 seizure of then-President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military attack, said on Wednesday that relations between Venezuela and the United States have had “highs and lows.” She said the two countries are now working on a mutually beneficial “energy agenda,” and she urged that “diplomatic dialogue … and energy dialogue” be the “appropriate and suitable channels” for moving forward.
The AP report said Venezuela’s government expects changes to its energy law to serve as assurances for major U.S. oil companies that have so far hesitated about returning to the country. It said some companies previously pulled back after Venezuela’s ruling party enacted the existing oil sector law about two decades ago to favor the state-run company PDVSA.
The new law, as described by AP, grants private companies control over oil production and sales and ends PDVSA’s monopoly over those activities as well as pricing. The law also allows for independent arbitration of disputes, which the report said removes a requirement that disagreements be settled only in Venezuelan courts controlled by the ruling party. Foreign investors view that independent arbitration mechanism as important for reducing the risk of future expropriation, the AP report said.
Wright told reporters that the reform he discussed with Venezuelan officials is “a meaningful step in the right direction,” but he said it is “probably not far and clear enough to encourage the kind of large capital flows” the U.S. would like to see in Venezuela. He also planned to visit oil fields on Thursday, the report said.
The AP report said Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves and produces about 1 million barrels a day, and it has long relied on oil revenues as a central source of income for the economy. It said Trump imposed crippling sanctions during his first term that locked PDVSA out of global oil markets as part of an attempt to pressure Maduro, and it described how the administration relied on a fleet of tankers to smuggle discounted crude into global supply chains.
The report also described how, in December, Trump ordered a blockade of “sanctioned oil tankers” entering or leaving Venezuela and said U.S. forces began seizing tankers off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. It said that after Maduro’s Jan. 3 ouster, the Trump administration moved to control the production, refining, and global distribution of Venezuela’s petroleum products and oversee where revenue flows, while also continuing to lift broad sanctions.
Wright said Wednesday that the blockade is “essentially over,” adding that the U.S. is “flowing Venezuelan crude out” and selling it at a higher price than Venezuela had sold it for before. He said the revenue is being used in specific projects benefiting Venezuelans, according to the AP report.