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Change in Venezuela’s leadership will not alter oil trajectory, ease climate pressures
– journalist warns of U.S. takeover of oil sector
(Kaieteur News) – Independent journalist, Joshua De Freitas Hernández has warned that the geopolitical shake-up following the United States’ removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is unlikely to yield any climate benefits.
On Thursday, he participated in a Covering Climate Now webinar, titled “Venezuela, Oil, and Climate Change,” which brought together journalists and climate analysts to assess the implications of the political upheaval for global fossil fuel dependence and climate action. The panel included De Freitas Hernández, Patrick Galey of Global Witness, Mariel Lozada of Climate Home News, and Isabella Reimi of Argus Media.
The participants of the webinar.
On January 3, the U.S. military conducted an operation in Caracas, Venezuela, which resulted in the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were transported to the United States and placed before the court on narco-terrorism charges. Following the operation, President Donald Trump said at a press conference, that the U.S. plans to “run” Venezuela until, “we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition,” while outlining ambitious plans for the oil-rich nation’s resources.
Speaking during the discussion, De Freitas Hernández who is in Venezuela, cautioned against expectations that the change in leadership would significantly alter Venezuela’s oil trajectory or ease climate pressures in the near term.
“We don’t know what are the scenario that we are going to face, but every scenario possible for the climate is a bad one, actually,” he said.
He noted that decades of neglect have left Venezuela’s energy infrastructure in a severely degraded state, making any meaningful recovery both costly and time-consuming.
“To repair all the industry in Venezuela, all the power grid in Venezuela is going to cost a lot of money, and going to spend a lot of years. So, the impact, if there is any positive impact in these oil conflict, is not going to be in the short term, is going to be in a long, long term…more than 10 years, I presume,” De Freitas Hernández stated.
The discussion underscored concerns that control over the world’s largest proven oil reserves could deepen global reliance on fossil fuels at a time when there is a push to accelerate a phase-out to avert worsening climate impacts.
On Friday, executives from dozens of American oil companies met with President Trump at the White House to discuss plans to enter or re-enter Venezuela’s oil industry, with most expressing eagerness to access the country’s petroleum resources and thanking the president for the military operation that paved the way.
During the meeting, Trump said the oil companies would need to invest at least US$100 billion to revive Venezuela’s dilapidated oil sector in order to bring, “millions of barrels of oil production to benefit the United States, the people of Venezuela and the entire world…”
Though Venezuela’s crude is heavy oil, Trump described it as a fantastic resource and said American refineries have the capacity to process that type of crude. Most executives expressed gratitude to Trump and said U.S. oil companies stand ready to take the opportunity that has presented itself and allow them to benefit from renewed access in Venezuela’s oil industry.
Among the companies represented at the meeting were ExxonMobil Corporation, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips and Halliburton.
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