Experts warn that the U.S. push to revamp and boost Venezuela’s vast oil reserves could worsen decades of ecological damage and increase planet-warming pollution in a country already struggling with the legacy of a long-declining petroleum industry.

President Donald Trump has touted Venezuela's oil, inviting executives to the White House on Friday to discuss drilling. "We want stability," he said last week, "but we do want democracy."

ABC News reported that the administration has made two demands to Rodriguez that must be met for the U.S. to allow the country to pump more oil. Venezuela must cut its economic ties with China, Russia, and Iran, sources said, and must agree to partner exclusively with the U.S. on oil production and favor America when selling heavy crude oil.

The country’s oil industry has undergone major shifts and two waves of nationalization since its first well started pumping in 1914.

President Trump says he has canceled "the previously expected second Wave of Attacks" on Venezuela. He is meeting with oil industry executives at the White House Friday.

The tepid reception from the industry threatens to further complicate Trump’s unprecedented intervention in Venezuela, which he envisions as a yearslong entanglement aimed at remaking both its political leadership and its oil-centric economy.

President Donald Trump on Friday called on oil executives to rush back into Venezuela as the White House tries to quickly secure $100 billion in investments to fix the country's neglected infrastructure and fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum.

President Donald Trump signs executive order blocking courts from seizing Venezuelan oil revenues in U.S. Treasury accounts, citing national security concerns and policy.