“It moves things in a positive direction,” Wirth said on CBS’ Face the Nation. “It still needs some work. It’s probably not enough to bring in the level of investment that would be desirable. So I think there’s progress that’s been made.”
A group of US oil executives who met Rodríguez in Caracas last week pressed for assurances that Venezuela was safe to invest in, a sign that interest among US oil companies is growing beyond Chevron and other majors as President Donald Trump calls for a revival of production in Venezuela.
“An increase in production there would improve energy reliability and supplies in the United States,” Wirth said.
He said Venezuela’s diminished oil workforce, with many skilled workers lost to emigration, makes any large-scale industry recovery dependent on whether expatriates return, a point also raised by opposition leader María Corina Machado.
“You can’t turn on production at a moment’s notice,” he said. “It takes engineering, it takes supply chains, it takes contracts and workers moving and being mobilized.”
