Washington. President Donald Trump met with oil executives at the White House on Friday, seeking as much as $100 billion in investment to revive Venezuela’s capacity to tap its vast petroleum reserves — a plan that hinges on companies’ willingness to commit capital in a country long marked by instability, inflation, and uncertainty.

Since a US military raid last Saturday to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Trump has moved quickly to cast the operation as an economic opportunity for the United States. He has cited the seizure of three tankers carrying Venezuelan oil and said the US would take control of sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned oil, asserting that Washington would oversee global sales indefinitely.

The effort also aligns with Trump’s broader push to keep gasoline prices low. With many Americans concerned about affordability, the Venezuela incursion blends Trump’s aggressive use of presidential authority with a high-profile display aimed at persuading voters he can drive down energy costs.

The meeting, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. EST, was set to take place behind closed doors, according to the president’s daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump wrote Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump said in a Thursday interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity that he would meet with executives from the nation’s 14 largest oil companies. The full list of attendees has not been disclosed. Companies expected to be represented include Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, as well as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which lost oil projects during the 2007 nationalization of private businesses under former President Hugo Chávez.

Major US oil companies have so far stopped short of confirming investments, citing the need for clear contracts and guarantees. Trump has suggested on social media that the US government would help backstop such investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has fallen below 1 million barrels per day. A key challenge for Trump will be convincing companies that his administration can maintain a stable relationship with interim President Delcy Rodríguez and provide adequate protections for firms reentering the Venezuelan market.

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