President Donald Trump says the US oil industry could be up and running with increased operations in Venezuela within 18 months, after a surprise military operation removed President Nicolás Maduro from power.
Trump told NBC News that a tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they'll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.
Representatives from major US petroleum companies plan to meet the Trump administration later this week, CBS News reported.
Analysts previously told the BBC it could take tens of billions of dollars, and potentially a decade, to restore Venezuela's former output.
Trump's remarks came days after he said the US would run Venezuela after the ousting of Maduro - who has now been brought to the US to face criminal charges.
Speaking to NBC about his 18-month timeframe, Trump speculated that oil production could ramp up in less time than that, but it'll be a lot of money. He has been explicit about his ambitions for American petroleum companies to scale up their operations in the country.
Having a Venezuela that's an oil producer is good for the United States because it keeps the price of oil down, Trump added.
The analysts who previously spoke to the BBC were skeptical that Trump's plans would significantly impact the global supply - and therefore price - of oil. They suggested that firms would want reassurance of a stable government before investing, and even when they did, their projects would not deliver for years.
While justifying the seizure of Maduro from Caracas, Trump also claimed that Venezuela unilaterally seized and stole American oil. However, energy law experts noted that oil found in Venezuela is owned by the government and companies extract it under a license agreement.
Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in 1976, and efforts to exert more state control over foreign-owned assets increased under former president Hugo Chavez in 2007.
