US Energy Secretary Chris Wright Talks Venezuela Oil Production

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
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**SPEAKER_2** (0:07)
US. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is in Venezuela to announce a series of deals from oil producers. Bloomberg Washington correspondent Tyler Kendall is in Caracas with him. Tyler.

**Tyler Kendall** (0:19)
Thanks so much and a big welcome to our global Bloomberg television and radio audience. I'm Tyler Kendall here in Venezuela, and pleased to say I am joined now by the US. Energy Secretary Christopher Wright, it's nice to see you here on the heels of the US government announcing this massive partnership to potentially develop up to 65 billion barrels of oil. Just to get a lay of the land, how quickly can you start production on those 17 fields? And more broadly speaking, how quickly will we see Venezuelan production output really ramp up?

**Chris Wright** (0:50)
There were several of those fields, but most of them, Tyler, are already in active development today. Nebeb produces around 200,000 barrels of oil a day. They're the second largest private producer in Venezuela. So there's scale already in several of those fields. A number of them haven't seen any meaningful development yet. Some of them were at Russian partnerships or Chinese partnerships or, frankly, criminal partnerships. So this is to bring these fields into real commercial development. But the speed of things, I mean, so far, we have gone at Trump's speed in Venezuela.
Country production is up 25 percent. Exports are up 50 percent. We think even from production today already elevated, that could double by the end of this decade.

**Tyler Kendall** (1:34)
65 billion barrels is a massive number. It's my understanding that North American Blue Energy Partners can't develop this all on their own. Are you actively working or in talks to bring in other operators for these 17 fields?

**Chris Wright** (1:47)
Oh, I'm certain that will happen. But, of course, the deal was just signed on Friday, so this is brand new. But yes, that reserve base is so large, clearly additional partnerships will be formed to develop those resources.

**Tyler Kendall** (1:59)
When it comes to these specific fields, China is still owned billions of dollars from the Venezuelan government. Are there any assurances that the barrels from these fields aren't going to be used to pay back Chinese debt?

**Chris Wright** (2:15)
Now, look, Venezuela has got a lot of historical debt, and one of the major efforts going on right now is to do a debt restructuring, to get things in order. Who are the real creditors? What is an arrangement going to go to move forward? But no, these fields will be developed for the benefit of the Venezuelan people, for the benefit of Americans, and for the benefit of global energy markets. President Trump's agendas drive down energy prices of all kinds across our economy and across the world.

**Tyler Kendall** (2:42)
But just for clarity, China won't have any claims of production or revenue related to this deal that the US government struck.

**Chris Wright** (2:49)
No, they will not.

**Tyler Kendall** (2:50)
Broadly speaking, people familiar with the matter have told Bloomberg News that Venezuela is considering actually leaving OPEC. Have you had any of those discussions with the Venezuelan government, including when it comes to talks around this deal?

**Chris Wright** (3:03)
I have not discussed OPEC with the leaders of Venezuela.

**Tyler Kendall** (3:07)
Do you think that they should leave?

**Chris Wright** (3:09)
That's a dialogue for the sovereign state of Venezuela. That's a decision for them to make.

**Tyler Kendall** (3:14)
But I think part of this question is that, wouldn't it be difficult for the US government to take all of this oil as part of the deal if Venezuela is subject to OPEC quotas? I know at the moment they're not, but if we're talking about ramping up so much production in this country, wouldn't they be down the line?

**Chris Wright** (3:31)
Again, that's a separate issue. But also Tyler, to be clear, we're not taking any oil here. This is a deal between a commercial enterprise that's operating in Venezuela today.
We're just coming in as a partner, a passive partner in that role, but with very active controls to make sure highest business practices are followed and to work with them to bring more capital so we can accelerate the development of these reserves. Venezuela today has about 17% of global oil reserves and just over 1% of global production. That's the problem of the last 25 years, but it's the opportunity for tomorrow.

**Tyler Kendall** (4:08)
Well, to this point, we've often heard from the administration about this three-phased approach when it comes to Venezuela. That includes stability, economic viability, and then a democratic transition. Can you just talk to me about how you are viewing this part of the picture, how this helps to get Venezuela to that process of economic viability before we could see duly elected officials in this country in terms of a democratic process?