Venezuela's state-run petroleum company said Wednesday that it is in "negotiations" with the United States to sell Venezuelan oil to the U.S.
Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., or PDVSA, said in a statement that the talks were "for the sale of volumes of oil, within the framework of the commercial relations that exist between both countries."
Earlier in the day, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he was working "directly in cooperation with the Venezuelans" in the wake of the Trump administration's capture of the country's deposed president, Nicolás Maduro.
PDVSA said the negotiation process "is being carried out under schemes similar to those in place with international companies, such as Chevron, and is based on a strictly commercial transaction, with criteria of legality, transparency, and benefit for both parties," according to an NBC News translation.
The statement was the first official acknowledgment from Venezuela's oil sector that it is engaging with U.S. representatives.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday evening that “the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.”
“I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately,” he said on Truth Social.
In a statement Wednesday, the Energy Department said, "These oil sales begin immediately."
But PDVSA’s public comments suggest the sales are not a done deal, at least not yet.
Speaking at a conference in the Miami area Wednesday, Wright said, “We’re going to have that [oil] flowing again" from Venezuela.
"As we make progress with the [Venezuelan] government, you know, we'll enable the importing of parts and equipment and services to kind of prevent the industry from collapsing, stabilize the production and then, as quickly as possible, start to see it growing again," he added.
The Venezuelan oil industry and economy are under broad U.S. sanctions, which were recently expanded to include a full blockade of oil exports.
After Wright's comments Wednesday, a White House official told NBC News that the U.S. would "selectively" roll back some sanctions to enable the transport and sale of Venezuelan crude oil and related products on the global market.
"In the long run," Wright said, the Trump administration hopes to "create the conditions that the major American companies that were there before, maybe that weren't there before but want to be there, will go in."
U.S. oil giants Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips fully exited Venezuela in 2007, after the government nationalized energy infrastructure there. Chevron is the only U.S. firm currently operating in Venezuela, under a narrow license issued by the Trump administration.
Since the U.S. captured Maduro and Trump began sharing his hopes for the future of Venezuela's oil, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips have all been quiet about the prospect of expanding or re-entering Venezuela's oil industry.
Wright said that in the short to medium term, he sees Venezuelan oil production expanding by "several hundred thousand barrels a day" as a possibility. He did not specify precisely what that timeline might look like or what entity would execute the expansion.
Wright said market forces would determine whether Venezuela was a good investment for companies or not.
