Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Thursday, January 8th, and this is your FT News

briefing. We have more details about how America wants to handle Venezuelan oil, but the push to

revive the oil industry might be a tall order. There's just degradation everywhere. Plus,

there might be some traction on a Ukraine peace deal.

I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

The U.S. plans to control Venezuelan oil sales indefinitely.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced this yesterday, just days after the capture of

Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro.

We're going to get that crude moving again and sell it, just like we did in our businesses.

First, this backed up stored oil, and then indefinitely

going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace.

Wright also said the U.S. would funnel the proceeds to American banks and open up Venezuela to

American oil companies. And of course, in the long run, create the conditions that the major American companies

that were there before, maybe that weren't there before but want to be there, will go in.

The resources are immense.

This should be a wealthy, prosperous, peaceful energy powerhouse.

Venezuela's state oil company Peta Vesa said yesterday that it was in negotiations

with Washington, quote, to sell volumes of crude oil to the U.S. It said the arrangements would be

similar to those currently in place with international companies like Chevron.

Now this push by the Trump administration to control Venezuela's oil industry, it's not exactly going to be easy.

There have been years of neglect that have wreaked havoc on Venezuela's oil facilities, and there is a lot of catching up to do.

Here to talk about that is the FT's energy editor, Malcolm Moore.

...