President Donald Trump said the oil companies need government protection and security more than federal funding to operate in Venezuela.
President Donald Trump at a White House meeting on Friday said that U.S. oil companies will spend their own money to revive Venezuela’s oil market.
In a meeting with top executives of oil companies like Chevron (CVX), Exxon Mobil (XOM), and ConocoPhillips (COP), Trump said that the big oil companies would spend “at least $100 billion” to revive Venezuela’s oil infrastructure and drill more oil.
The president said that the companies didn’t need the government’s money but instead, “need government protection and the government security” to be able to operate safely in the country.
Trump also added that Venezuela will begin refining and selling up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil to the U.S. immediately, expected to continue indefinitely.
Shares of CVX rose nearly 2% while shares of XOM edged 1.2% higher.
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