US Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday for talks with acting president Delcy Rodriguez and oil industry executives on harnessing the country’s vast crude reserves.
Wright is the highest-ranking official in the administration of US President Donald Trump to travel to Venezuela since US special forces seized and overthrew longtime socialist leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3.
Trump has backed Maduro’s former deputy Rodriguez to succeed the ousted leader, on condition that she abide by US demands, including granting the United States access to Venezuelan oil and ease state repression.
Welcoming Wright to Venezuela on X, the US embassy in the country said: “Your visit is key to advancing @POTUS’s (Trump’s) vision of a prosperous Venezuela.”
It added that “the US private sector will be essential to boost the oil sector, modernize the electric grid, and unlock Venezuela’s enormous potential.”
A photo posted by the embassy showed Wright on the tarmac at Maiquetia International Airport, which serves the capital Caracas, together with the new US charge d’affaires in Venezuela, Laura Dogu.
Venezuela sits on about a fifth of the world’s oil reserves and was once a major crude supplier to the United States.
But it produced only around one percent of the world’s total crude output in 2024, according to OPEC, due to years of underinvestment, mismanagement and US sanctions.
Washington eased sanctions on Venezuelan oil last month after Rodriguez’s administration passed a law throwing open the sector to private investment.
Trump wants US oil majors to rapidly rebuild the sector and boost output by millions of barrels a day.
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