US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House was preparing to lift more sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry as soon as this week.
Bessent’s remarks — alongside the potential release of billions of dollars of World Bank and IMF funds to revive Caracas’ economy — come with the US also pressing major oil companies to ramp up investments in the country, which has the world’s largest stated crude reserves.
However, some oil majors have expressed reservations about working in Venezuela: US President Donald Trump said Exxon, for example, could be sidelined, after its CEO said the South American country was “uninvestable,” and Trump in effect told ConocoPhillips’ CEO to drop its effort to recover $12 billion it says it is owed by Venezuela.
