United States President Donald Trump met with US oil executives to try and secure $100 billion in investments to access Venezuela's petroleum reserves after US forces seized the fifth oil tanker in a month.

The executives said they were interested in the opportunity but had concerns given previous asset seizures in Venezuela, the Associated Press reported.

CEO of ExxonMobil Darren Woods was among the executives at the White House on Friday, Janauary 9.

Woods said the South American country is "un-investable" if one considers the "commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela". His company's assets have previously been seized twice in the country.

He said ExxonMobil, the largest US oil company, would send a team to assess the situation.

Representatives from Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Valero, Marathon and Shell were also at the meeting.

Trump told executives they have "total safety", even though Venezuela has a history of state asset seizures, ongoing US sanctions and political turmoil.

Trump told the executives on Friday that they would be dealing directly with the US.

"We don’t want you to deal with Venezuela," he said.

Earlier in the week Trump said Venezuela would turn over millions of barrels of oil to his country. In a post on social media site Truth Social on Tuesday, January 6, Trump said the oil will be sold at its market price and that he will control the money.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro remained in custody after was captured by an elite squadron of the US military in an overnight raid on Saturday, January 3. He has been indicted on drug and terrorism charges.

"Our giant oil companies will be spending at least $100 billion of their money, not the government’s money. They don’t need government money. But they need government protection," he said on Friday.

Trump said the security guarantee would come from working with Venezuelan leaders and their people, instead of deploying US forces, AP reported.

US forces seized an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea on Friday, the fifth tanker over the past month.

Trump's administration has sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela as part of a broader crackdown on the worldwide illegal oil trade.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on social media that the ship was "another 'ghost fleet' tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil". She said it had departed Venezuela and attempted "to evade U.S. forces".