“Just as President Trump promised, companies are making unprecedented investments in Venezuela’s oil infrastructure,” Rogers said.

National Energy Dominance Council Executive Director Jarrod Agen led the administration delegation this week, meeting with high-ranking Venezuelan officials, including interim president Delcy Rodriguez.

The administration planned to sign a memorandum of understanding with some mining companies to incentivize increased investment, Politico reported.

One industry official familiar with the administration’s plan told the outlet that officials were planning to unveil deals related to gold and aluminum, as well as potentially coal.

Since the capture of former dictator Nicolas Maduro in January, the Trump administration has sought to rapidly expand U.S. oil and gas production in Venezuela, with the goal of increasing the country’s total oil production by 50% within the next year.

While domestic oil and gas majors have publicly supported the administration’s efforts to revitalize Venezuela’s crude industry, few have committed to significantly expanding their operations over concerns about political and legal risk in the country.

In January, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said Venezuela was “un-investable” without significant changes to commercial and legal frameworks.

Venezuela’s government has taken steps toward changing its laws to encourage foreign investment in its energy and mining sectors, while the Trump administration has, in turn, eased sanctions to allow U.S. companies to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas firm. 

The administration is facing even more pressure to boost oil and gas production in Venezuela because global crude prices have surged by more than 50% due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

On Thursday, international benchmark Brent crude reached four-year highs of more than $126 per barrel, a level that could very well send gasoline prices surging closer to $5 per gallon. As of Friday, the national average price of gas was just below $4.40 per gallon. 

Roughly 20 million barrels of crude oil and other oil products passed through the strait each day before the war in Iran began. With U.S. and Iranian blockades of the crucial waterway in place, some analysts estimate that global markets have lost $50 billion in crude.

Earlier in the week, several administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, met with oil and gas executives to discuss both the ongoing war and its effect on the market.

A White House official confirmed to the Washington Examiner that the meeting covered topics including domestic production, progress in Venezuela, oil futures, natural gas, and shipping. The official said the meeting also covered “steps President Trump has taken to alleviate global oil markets and steps we could take to continue the current blockade for months if needed and minimize impact on American consumers.”

The combination of easing operating conditions in the South American country and growing market constraints is making Venezuela a more attractive investment opportunity for some oil majors. 

Both ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which have not yet committed capital in Venezuela, met with officials and sent technical teams to the country in recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported.

OIL SHOCK WORSENS AS STRAIT OF HORMUZ CLOSURE NEARS TWO MONTHS

Chevron, the only existing U.S. operator in the country, has expanded its footprint in Venezuela through an asset swap agreement with Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., the state-owned company more simply known as PdVSA. But Chevron executives have indicated that there is still more work to be done before seeing significant new investments. 

“It still needs some work,” CEO Mike Wirth told CBS News in an interview expected to air on Sunday. “It’s probably not enough to bring in the level of investment that would be desirable.”