{"text":[[{"start":11,"text":"Companies with close ties to the Trump administration are working on deals to gain access to Venezuela’s oil resources, trying to capitalise on US control of the Latin American country’s beleaguered energy sector."}],[{"start":23.16,"text":"Houston-based oil producer Sable Offshore is one of a handful of companies in advanced talks to sign contracts with Venezuela’s government to develop oilfields, according to two people with knowledge of the situation."}],[{"start":35.14,"text":"Brittany Kelm, a vice-president of policy and commercial for Sable, worked for the Trump administration until last month as a senior adviser for its National Energy Dominance Council, serving as a top administration liaison to the oil and gas industry."}],[{"start":49.56,"text":"Four months ago, she posted a photo on LinkedIn with her arm around Venezuela’s de facto leader Delcy Rodríguez, saying “we cannot wait to continue supporting Venezuela with economic growth via US investment.” Sable did not respond to requests for comment."}],[{"start":65.16,"text":"Trump administration officials backed Sable earlier this year as it worked to restart oil production off the California coast. Donald Trump used the Defence Production Act to order the company to restart offshore oil production and pipeline operations in the state."}],[{"start":79.88,"text":"Primavera, an energy firm co-founded by Coinbase’s former president Fred Ehrsam, also signed an oilfield development agreement on Wednesday. Ehrsam, who donated $1mn to Trump’s 2025 inauguration fund, was appointed by Trump in March as an adviser on Trump’s science and technology council. Ehrsam did not reply to a request for comment."}],[{"start":101.24,"text":"In May, Ehrsam was the special guest at an event hosted by the president of the Bank of Venezuela, where he encouraged people to invest and emphasised the “numerous opportunities in the country”."}],[{"start":111.84,"text":"The deals are coming together less than a year after the US captured President Nicolás Maduro in January and installed vice-president Rodríguez as leader. Her administration has since helped pass laws opening up the country’s oil and mining sectors to foreign investment."}],[{"start":126.76,"text":"The Sable and Primavera deals are separate from the Trump administration’s deal to take control of 65bn barrels of Venezuela’s oil in a joint venture with North American Blue Energy Partners, a privately held oil company owned by Alejandro Betancourt."}],[{"start":141.68,"text":"Trump has relied on the support of oil and gas executives while in office, with the industry contributing tens of millions of dollars to Republicans each election cycle."}],[{"start":151.12,"text":"During his 2024 campaign, Trump hosted a meeting of oil industry executives in which he asked for $1bn in campaign contributions while promising to gut predecessor Joe Biden’s climate policies if re-elected. Trump recently held a fundraising dinner in Houston, the heart of the country’s oil and gas industry, amid a tightly contested US Senate race."}],[{"start":172.76,"text":"The White House is eager to show it is making progress in Venezuela as the conflict in Iran has driven up US petrol prices. Following the deal announcement on Friday, Chevron on Wednesday said it was pledging $7bn to expand in the country, where the energy infrastructure is dilapidated after years of neglect."}],[{"start":190.76,"text":"Trump “wanted to see as fast as possible a transformation in Venezuela and in US-Venezuela relations”, energy secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday."}],[{"start":199.8,"text":"Those doing business in Caracas say the JW Marriott hotel has become a hive of activity."}],[{"start":205.4,"text":"“Cowboy boots are back on the ground in Caracas,” said a person who has been involved in the negotiations. “It’s Blood Diamond meets Landman,” he added, referring to the Leonardo DiCaprio film and a recent hit series about Texas’s oil industry. “It’s a bizarre environment.”"}],[{"start":221.68,"text":"The dealmaking is not confined to oil. Yorkville International Capital, a blank-cheque company led by Kevin McGurn, the interim chief executive of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, is seeking to raise funds for a venture in energy, infrastructure, mining or financial services in Latin America and Venezuela, it said in a securities filing in May. Yorkville did not reply to a request for comment."}],[{"start":247.56,"text":"In the early months after Maduro’s capture, a stream of small independent companies signed MOUs with Venezuela to explore opportunities, but few have converted them into contracts."}],[{"start":257.36,"text":"The companies included the Hunt Oil Company, which is run by the grandson of Texas oil chief HL Hunt and HKN Energy, controlled by Dallas tycoon Ross Perot Jr."}],[{"start":268.96,"text":"Hunt Oil said in August it had signed an agreement with state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela to help expand the country’s oil production."}],[{"start":276.84,"text":"Additional reporting by George Steer in New York"}],[{"start":285.84,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788502552_2106.mp3"}