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O’Leary Ventures President Kevin O’Leary joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to weigh in on the White House considering paying Greenland residents, what U.S. control of Venezuelan oil means for Canada and job creation under the Trump administration.
President Trump said Friday that Maj. American oil companies will invest $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela’s energy sector following the successful capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Speaking in the East Room of the White House during a meeting with nearly two dozen top oil and gas executives, Trump said US energy companies will rebuild Venezuela’s “rotten” oil infrastructure and push production to record levels.
“American companies will have the opportunity to rebuild Venezuela’s rotten energy infrastructure and ultimately increase oil production to levels never seen before,” Trump said. “When you add Venezuela and the United States, we hold 55% of the world’s oil.”
BEHIND THE SCENES WHO ATTENDED THE TRUMP OIL EXECUTIVE MEETING AFTER OPERATION MADURO
President Donald Trump during a meeting with U.S. oil company executives in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, January 9, 2026. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Trump said his administration would determine which companies would be allowed to operate in Venezuela, according to Reuters.
“Our giant oil companies will spend at least $100 billion of their own money, not government money… to rebuild necessary capacity and infrastructure,” Trump said. “Venezuela also agreed that the United States immediately begins refining and selling up to 50 million barrels. from Venezuelan crude oil, which will continue indefinitely. »
The president said the effort would directly benefit U.S. consumers, noting that gas prices are already low across the country, with some drivers paying less than $2 per gallon.
ENERGY SECRETARY SAYS CHEVRON EXPANSION, U.S. OIL ROLE IN VENEZUELA COULD COME “FAIRLY QUICKLY”
U.S. oil company executives during a meeting with President Donald Trump (not pictured) in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, January 9, 2026. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“One of the things the United States will get out of this situation will be even lower energy prices. We now have people get gas for $1.99, $1.96, $1.95, $1.92,” Trump said. “Before, it was $3.5, $4, $5 a gallon. Think about it. $1.99.”
The list of oil companies present at the meeting Chevron includedExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Continental, Halliburton, HKN, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, Vitol Americas, Repsol, Eni, Aspect Holdings, Tallgrass, Raisa Energy and Hilcorp.
Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday that Venezuelan oil would be immediately released to the United States, saying: “Venezuela’s interim authorities will turn over between 30 and 50 MILLION barrels of high-quality sanctioned oil to the United States of America.”
Trump to meet with oil executives over Venezuela on Friday
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife are being held in New York, where they will stand trial for a number of alleged crimes. (Matias Delacroix/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“This oil will be sold at its market price, and this money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure that it is used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the United States! I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan immediately. It will be transported by storage ships and taken directly to unloading docks in the United States.”
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Chevron is the only U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela, while ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil had operations in the country before the regime nationalized their assets.
Emma Colton and Eric Revell of FOX Business contributed to this report.
