During his remarks at the World Economic Forum, President Donald Trump reemphasized his commitment to U.S. energy dominance and the role Venezuela can play. As the founder of one of America’s largest private oil and gas companies, my company is ready to play our part, which will mean lower prices and greater safety for our citizens and better days for the people of Venezuela. Both are valuable and achievable goals.
President Trump set the wheels of this plan in motion when he reconvened leading U.S. oil and gas executives at the White House. The aim was to strengthen US interests in the Western Hemisphere after Nicolás Maduro was removed from power. Venezuela is home to the world’s largest stock of crude oil reserves.
By toppling Maduro and inviting American energy leaders to the table to discuss rebuilding his infrastructure, Trump sent a powerful message to China and other hostile foreign actors: mess around in our backyard at your peril.
Trump not only understands that energy dominance means global dominance, but is also willing to act on it. At the same time, Venezuela deserves better than the quarter century of corruption the country has endured, and the U.S. energy industry can help lift an impoverished country to a better future.
A pump jack stands near an oil spill at a Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) plant in the Orinoco belt of El Tigre, Venezuela. (Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Although Venezuela is blessed with the world’s largest supply of crude oil reserves, its production of 1 million barrels per day is a pittance of what it could be. As U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said, oil can only “become a resource with technology, with capital, with the rule of law and a system of governance that encourages the harvesting of those resources to create a better world.”
My home state of Texas produces 6.3 million barrels of crude oil every day thanks to the hard work of nearly half a million oil and gas workers in our state. Venezuela’s industry has fallen into a state of ruin due to corrupt and illegitimate political leaders, and citizens are paying the price.
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Yet countries without our vast natural resources have become dependent on Venezuelan oil to power their own countries. For example, China has a population of 1.4 billion and produces about 4 million barrels of oil per day. Demand far exceeds domestic production, necessitating dependence on other forms of energy, such as coal. China is the world’s largest oil importer. More than half of Venezuela’s oil exports go to China, often under flagless “shadow fleets” to avoid global sanctions.
The overthrow of Maduro was an immediate blow to China’s energy supply and international reputation.
Finally, let us not lose sight of the people of Venezuela. Under Maduro and former President Hugo Chavez, the country’s poverty rate has risen to almost 90%. About one in four of the 32 million inhabitants has been driven from their homes. Food, education, health care and necessities of life are excluded for many.
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All this misery despite the country’s abundant natural resources, which have been mismanaged and abused by a corrupt, illegitimate and evil regime. For evidence of the failures of socialism, look no further than Caracas.
Trump not only understands that energy dominance means global dominance, but is also willing to act on it.
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The critics questioning the way forward in Venezuela are the same people who thought heading to Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope along the Arctic Ocean coast was fool’s gold. Conditions were too inhospitable to ever make the investment worthwhile, they said. Today, Prudhoe Bay is one of the most important energy sources in the United States.
Our country is fueled by an entrepreneurial spirit – the belief that the possibilities are endless through grit, determination and hard work. We defied the odds to earn our independence, we expanded west, we put a man on the moon. We build companies from the ground up that create good jobs, including nearly 11 million in the oil and gas industry.
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Under President Trump’s pro-energy leadership, Hilcorp Energy and many others, both independent and major, are ready to begin this next chapter – one that could unlock more potential for America, bring new hope to Venezuela, and put China on its heels. It won’t be easy, but nothing worth doing ever is.
