Washington DC [US], January 10 : US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) met with top oil and gas executives at the White House to promote major investments in Venezuela's energy sector, and said that "a lot of money is going to be made".
Addressing reporters earlier, he said, "We just had a great meeting with the oil executives, we sort of formed a deal."
"They're going to be going in with hundreds of billions of dollars in drilling oil, and it's good for Venezuela, and it's great for the United States," Fox News quoted Trump as saying.
"A lot of money is going to be made. Oil prices will come down, although they are getting down pretty good now without it, and it was a great meeting we had today with the biggest companies anywhere in the world," he said.
Earlier, he assured the executives of safety and security in Venezuela.
Saying that the United States built the Venezuelan oil industry with American talent, now the US would do "everything" about the assets that were 'stolen'.
Trump said he was delighted to welcome almost two dozen of the "biggest and most respected" oil and gas executives in the world to the White House.
The US President said that the departure of Nicolas Maduro made it possible to have an incredible future for both nations, and said that there would be deeper integration of the economies of the two major energy powers of the Western hemisphere.
Assuring the industry leaders of safety and security in Venezuela, Trump said, "You're dealing with us directly, not Venezuela. You have total safety, security; it's a whole different Venezuela".
The president also highlighted America's historical role in building Venezuela's oil industry.
"Decades ago, the United States built Venezuela's oil industry with American skill, technology, know-how, and dollars. But those assets were stolen from us, and we had Presidents who did nothing about it. Now, we're doing everything about it," Trump said.
The meeting comes amid broader efforts by Trump's administration to attract at least $100 billion in private investment to revive Venezuela's struggling oil infrastructure.
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