For Big Oil, Venezuela's reserves show long-term promise

Oil production is front and center following the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. At a press conference afterward in Mar-a-Lago, Trump stressed that Venezuela’s oil reserves were a key part of the invasion. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies — the biggest anywhere in the world — go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure,” he said.

But are oil companies actually going to do that? It’s not likely in the short term, but the long term is another story, says Landon Derentz, vice president of energy and infrastructure at the Atlantic Council.

“If you're a U.S. energy company looking at investment in Venezuela, you're not looking at this for, you know, a six-month return. You're looking at decadal investments,” said Derentz. “That's where the attraction, I think, comes from in the industry, who want to be engaged in places that have big reserves, like Venezuela. But they're not going to make that decision just based on a quick turn and a quick buck.”

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke to Derentz about what might come next for the energy sector.

To listen, use the media player above.