(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a

columnist for Reuters.)

By Ron Bousso

LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Big Oil companies have

injected a heavy dose of realism into U.S. President Donald

Trump's plan to rapidly invest billions in Venezuela, pointing

to complex security, commercial and legal requirements to

revitalize the country's crumbling oil industry.

On the face of it, Friday's televised White House meeting

with the leadership of major U.S. and European oil producers was

a win for the U.S. president. It projected a sense of urgency,

coming less than a week after the ouster of Venezuela's

President Nicolas Maduro, and Trump received lavish praise from

many executives around the table.

But the meeting was far from a ringing endorsement of

Trump's ambitions to see energy giants pour $100 billion into

Venezuela's oil industry, dramatically ‌increasing its current

production of around 900,000 barrels per day.

Indeed, Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) CEO Darren Woods asserted that

the Latin American country was currently "un-investible" from a

commercial and legal standpoint.

That may seem like stating the obvious. Venezuela has been

subject to tough U.S. sanctions for nearly a decade, and its

economy has suffered from decades of ​corruption and

mismanagement.

Changing this reality would require several significant

steps, beginning with the establishment of a government that can

guarantee security on the ground and provide economic stability

and fiscal confidence. All that could take months, if ‍not years.

NEED FOR SPEED

Nevertheless, the Trump administration is moving fast.

Washington is working on lifting some sanctions on Caracas,

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters on Saturday, which

would ⁠help stabilize the economy and facilitate the sale of

Venezuela's ⁠oil, providing the country with badly needed cash.

However, more sanctions would have to be removed to allow

oil companies to engage with national oil company PDVSA and for

major oil services providers such as SLB and Halliburton ( HAL )

to bring in essential drilling equipment, said Carlos

Bellorin, analyst at consultancy firm ‌Welligence.

Removing these restrictions could help unlock investment in

so-called "low-hanging" barrels, including capital to revive

wellheads that were abandoned in recent years ​and revitalise

basic infrastructure from pipelines to port facilities.

Chevron ( CVX ), the only U.S. company currently operating

in Venezuela under a special licence, could lift its production

by 50% within two years, from current levels of around 240,000

bpd, by upgrading equipment already in place, its Vice Chairman

Mark Nelson told Trump on Friday.

On top of this, Spanish oil firm Repsol could

triple its production of 45,000 ⁠bpd within two to three years,

its CEO Josu Jon Imaz said at the meeting.

GETTING MONEY BACK

But we ‍are talking about relatively small ​numbers here,

probably a production increase of up to 200,000 bpd over the

next year or so, and other hurdles remain.

Most of the large international oil majors present in the

White House meeting have a long history in Venezuela, meaning

they have all had their fingers burned. Two waves of oil

industry nationalisation in the 1970s and 2000s forced many of

them to hastily withdraw from the ‍country, leaving behind huge

losses they have yet to recoup.

"Oilfield service providers could be reluctant to commit

resources in Venezuela because they're still owed massive amount

of money. So Venezuela should commit to pay oilfield service

providers that debt as a way to have them in back," Welligence's

Bellorin said.

But Trump appears to be suggesting the opposite.

When ConocoPhillips ( COP ) CEO Ryan Lance said his company

was still owed around $12 billion from the 2007 nationalization

of its assets, Trump proposed Conoco could write the debt off

despite years of fighting Caracas in international courts.

Lance proposed involving the U.S. Export-Import

Bank (EXIM) to restructure Venezuela's debt to companies, which

Trump appeared to reject.

GETTING OIL OUT

In the long run, unlocking Venezuela's production, which at

its recent peak in the 1990s exceeded 3.5 million bpd, will

require fundamental changes to laws governing the country's

hydrocarbon sector.

For starters, Venezuela could revisit requirements for

mandatory state participation in upstream joint ventures, which

stands at more than 50%. Caracas could ​also reduce the oil

industry's ‍royalty and income tax rates of 30% and 50%,

respectively, and modify PDVSA's monopoly on marketing oil,

according to Bellorin.

Below ground, questions remain over the quality of

Venezuela's oil. Though the country boasts the world's largest

proven reserves, most of this is classified as heavy oil, which

is typically more expensive to extract than other grades. What's

more, many of Venezuela's reserves are held by joint ventures

with Chinese ​and Russian firms.

To attract substantial investments from international

companies that have a fiduciary duty to shareholders,

substantive financial and legal changes would be needed.

Verbal commitments from Trump will very likely not be enough

to get companies to divert billions of dollars to Venezuela. The

industry would need long-term certainty.

"We take a very long-term perspective," Exxon's Woods said.

"The investments that we make span decades and decades. So, we

do not go into any opportunity with a short-term mindset."

CHECKMATE?

The U.S. oil companies may be throwing a wet blanket on

Trump's ambitions, but the energy execs are in a tricky spot.

Any signs of reluctance to invest in Venezuela risk raising

Trump's ire.

And the White House has shown its willingness to play

hardball when it feels U.S. businesses' actions are not aligned

with its interests. Just look at the attacks on law firms and

the recent threats to limit defence companies' ability to return

cash to shareholders.

In this environment, energy boards could determine that

sinking a modest amount of money into Venezuela may be worth it,

even if it's ​not the best choice on paper, given the potential

blowback from the administration otherwise.

But even if Venezuela sees a flurry of activity in the next

few years, leading to moderate increases in the country's oil

production and sales on the open market, this likely will not be

enough to make Venezuela's oil industry great again.

For that, concrete action, not promises, will be needed.

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(Writing by Ron Bousso; Editing by David Holmes)