plans for Venezuela's oil reserves.
Venezuela has also agreed that the United States will immediately begin refining and selling up to 50 million barrels of Venezuela in crude oil.
We very much look forward as a proud American company to help it build a better future.
It's World Business Report from the BBC World Service.
This is Andrew Peach on the way, the latest from a news conference at the White House with US oil executives.
Also today.
Why?
The search for more protein and fibre means some take away food stores are feeling the pinch.
And X under fire for making a feature enabling users to create fake sexualised images of women a premium service.
First, President Trump says he sees the new leadership in Venezuela as a US ally, after a dramatic few days in which Nicolas Maduro lost power.
The president was speaking at a meeting of top US energy executives in the White House.
He said his government would choose which US firms could exploit Venezuela's vast oil reserves.
The plan is for them to spend at least 100 billion to rebuild the capacity and the infrastructure necessary.
Venezuela has also agreed that the United States will immediately begin refining and selling up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil, which will continue indefinitely.
We're all set to do it.
All of the companies here today are going to be treasured partners in bringing the nation of Venezuela back to life, restoring its economy and generating great wealth for their companies and for their people, and also great wealth for the American people.
Mark Nelson, the vice chairman of Chevron, which is already established in Venezuela, gave his reaction.
For more than a century, Chevron has been a part of Venezuela's past.
We are certainly committed to its present and we very much look forward, as a proud American company, to help it build a better future.
And so, Mr. President, thank you for your leadership.
President Trump said he was in a hurry to boost oil production and that China and Russia could be future customers.
We are open for business.
China can buy all the oil they want from us there or in the United States.
Russia can get all the oil they need from us.
And they do like oil, even though they produce a lot of it.
But China and Russia and everybody else is able to go and we'll be open for business almost immediately.
All righty.
Fernandez Conchese, a Venezuelan lawyer, partner at the international firm Clyde & Co., live with us on World Business Report.
What do you make of what you've been hearing over the last couple of hours from President Trump?
Thank you.
Thank you.
A pleasure to speak to you and your audience, Andrew.
It's really incredible.
It's been an incredible meeting.
Um, i haven't seen anything like that, you know, i would say in many years, or perhaps ever so uh, very interesting, very interesting.
I i would say that uh, uh.
What my take out of the meeting is the majority, the majority of the oil company ceos that were sitting there seem to be willing to uh to, you know, to go in, to go in.
I did obviously fear here a few that would not, would be much more cautious.
So yes, that's it.
And honestly Andrew, we've Through this week I received calls from business people of other industries as well electricity finance insurance reinsurance, transportation with an interest.
So I think that sort of reflects what's going on in the mind of many in the business community worldwide.
Come back to potential investors in a sec.
What do you make of President Trump's claim that the new leadership of Venezuela is completely on side as a US ally?
Because that seems so far removed from the accounts we heard just a couple of days ago from people in Venezuela talking about military patrols on the street corners checking everyone's phones.
I mean, I can say, I mean, you know, obviously he has his view on that.
What I can say is that obviously, a streamlined perspective in how the incoming investment is seen is necessary for these investments to become true.
Um so, regardless of what the reality is, i do think that the most of the business community will want to look at that happening or something similar.
For you know, you know, in order to be able to take a step forward and risk investment in venezuela again This time yesterday we were talking to a group of business people who are going to Venezuela in a few weeks from now.
Their trip's actually been planned for months because they've just expected this to happen one way or another.
Looking for investment opportunities, hedge fund managers, those kind of folks.
What sort of opportunities do you perceive there to be?
I think there are going to be opportunities in many industries.
As I said, obviously, oil and gas is the essential.
But then the service infrastructure requires huge investments as well.
Electricity, water, roads, airports, ports, that sort of thing.
Then agricultural and food.
Then, of course, again, transportation and you name it.
Basically...
I would say absolutely everything.
I would say absolutely everything.
Obviously dependent to a large extent in how the oil and gas industry is reconstructed or boosted.
But every sector of business, I think, needs reconstruction and needs to be built up once again.
We've got news in the last few hours of the US seizing a fifth tanker.
How far away are we from getting away from the sanctions process?
That's a very good question Andrew, because I think that the key to all this – I mean people always say about the legal challenges and the challenges in terms of reliability once the investment is in.
You saw, I think – I mean, if you looked at the press – I'm sorry, of the meeting with the oil and gas CEOs.
I think it was the president of Exxon who said they had been expropriated not once, but twice –.
So all that yes, but the first key or the first door that has to be opened, or the first key that has to be used to open a door, is the lifting of sanctions.
Because, as you know, investors may think one way or another from a political perspective, even from a risk appetite perspective,
But what every investor wants to be, particularly solid investors, is compliant.
So the first thing that has to happen is that the sanctions programme in Venezuela, or the Venezuelan sanctions programme, has to be lifted to a great extent for things to get moving in real terms.
Aurelio, thank you.
That's Aurelio Fernandez-Conceso from Clyde & Co.
Live now to Chris Lowe, Chief Economist at FHM Financial in New York.
Good to have you with us, Chris.
What do you make of what we've been hearing from the President of the White House?
It's a whirlwind, hard to keep up with.
But from an economic standpoint, I think the sanctions are key.
The reason...
Russia and China have been buying oil from Venezuela is in fact because of the sanctions, right?
Because it allows them to demand purchases below the market price.
So if the US companies can go in, can help rebuild, can bring Venezuela back into the world market.
It means they'll be able to charge a higher price.
It will remove that unfair advantage.
Russia and China have enjoyed buying the oil and generally mean lower oil prices for the countries that actually cooperated with the sanctions regime.
President Trump seems to want to convey the message that the political instability is over, that's all done with.
The new regime is on side and therefore investment can begin.
Will people buy it?
I think that's the huge question.
And from what we've seen in the last few days, it does look like they have concluded for now.
Anyway, it's in their best interest to cooperate with the US.
We'll see if that continues when, say a year or so down the road, the US suggests they have another election.
I think that'll be the deciding issue.
OK, Chris, stay with us.
Back to you in a second or two.
Now the British government is saying that Elon Musk's Platform X and its decision to limit Grok AI image edits to paid users only is insulting to victims of misogyny and sexual violence.
A spokesperson said the move just turned the feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service.
Grok, which is owned by Elon Musk, has been criticised for enabling users to create fake sexualised images of women, even children in some cases.
It responded by saying it would restrict image editing to paid subscribers only.
Samantha Smith is a British journalist who told us what happened when she shared a bikini photo on Expo, didn't expect much to come of it and came back to about 10 million views and hundreds of comments, many women speaking out about their own experience, reposting what I had said.
But what was more startling was the number of men that were in my comments either blaming me and saying that it is my fault because I am publishing photos of myself online, or or the men in my comments who were recreating the trend and doing that classic.
Hey Grok, put her in a bikini, make her turn around, have her bend over.
That sort of thing.
These very explicit prompts that Grok was following without any hesitation.
The UK Technology Secretary, Liz Kendall, said the chatbot's owner needed to do more.
Sexualising images of Children is one of the worst crimes imaginable.
And I think it is insulting to say that you can still access this service if you pay for it.
X needs to get a grip and get this material down.
Zoe Kleinman is our technology editor.
Is it possible to ban it in the UK?
So the nuclear option would be for Ofcom to ban X or indeed Grok in the UK.
But there's supposed to be a long process in place before it did something like this.
And if it were to do it and do it quickly, it could be a political bombshell, couldn't it?
Given that these platforms are owned by Elon Musk, and Donald Trump would quite possibly want to get involved.
I think what we're seeing play out here quite painfully in real time is the reality of how difficult technology regulation is and how much more slowly it moves than the technology itself.
Grok's been caught out here because it was publishing what it was being asked to create.
It was going on its X feed where everyone could see it.
But it's not the only tool that does it.
In private, if you use these tools, they will do it as well.
And the issue at the moment legally is that, while it's illegal to share non-consensual intimate images and that includes AI-generated deepfakes it's not yet illegal to create them.
Now, X told us they weren't putting anyone up for interview today.
Online.
They say we take action against illegal content on X, including child sexual abuse material, by removing it permanently, suspending accounts and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.
Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.
This is World Business Report with Andrew Peach here on the BBC World Service.
Shares in Glencore are up by as much as 10% today.
Why?
Because investors are welcoming the prospect of a takeover by mining giant Rio Tinto.
Such a merger would create the world's biggest mining group with an estimated value of $200 billion.
So what's motivating this?
Well, I've been talking to George Cheveley, portfolio manager in the natural resources team at the UK investment company 91.
It's driven by economies of scale and a desire really to build out in copper.
From Rio's point of view,
And the scale is an issue, because a new greenfield copper mine you're not going to get much for less than 10 billion today.
And therefore you need companies of over 100 billion probably 200 billion really to take on those challenges.
And give me a bit more on where Rio Tinto and Glencore are operating.
What are they mining and where are they mining it?
They're global, but Rio obviously today is very much centred around iron ore mines, predominantly in Western Australia.
It already has copper mines in South America, Mongolia it has one, and then it has quite large aluminium operations, mainly based in Canada.
Glencore, also global, have a huge number of assets, some many small, but really focused around copper and coal and some zinc as well.
This combination creates a company which is really a third copper, a third iron ore and a third other which is coal, zinc and nickel.
And what about the demand for the big commodities, for the copper, for the iron ore?
What's driving that?
The one that's really the key to this deal, and that is electrification.
Copper carries electricity and if you're building out renewables, electrifying the world, building evs, we're going to require a lot of copper and increasingly we also need, you know, in the states that require more power for ai service centers, the hyperscalers again more copper is required to deliver that power.
So copper is really the basis for the modern economy and that demand for that is increasing.
Iron ore people see is as the old economy.
It's infrastructure, it's steel.
I mean iron ore makes steel and it's obviously been driven over the last 20 years by the build out in china, but the fact is it's still required.
We need a lot more infrastructure in the western world.
Data centers are made out of steel.
You need windmills, etc.
Wind towers, renewables these are all steel infrastructure.
So, Whilst you might say that the golden age of steel under China over the last 20 years might be slowing, we still require a huge amount of steel and iron ore remains critical.
George Cheveley from the investment company 91.
Chris Lowe from FHN Financial still with us in New York.
What's your take on the health of mining, Chris?
Oh, commodities booming.
And I expect that continues.
I think George's analysis is spot on.
Copper is going to be the one to watch the next few years because of the electrification issue.
These AI data centers eating up vast quantities of energy.
We're going to have to make huge investments there.
And are we going to see any more of these mergers, do you think?
Is there more potential for that within the mining sector?
I expect so, yes.
And the reason is that anytime a sector of the economy is particularly hot, you're going to see more merger activity.
And this is what we're really talking about.
The biggest structural change in the economy that's happened in maybe the last 50 years is with the evolution of AI and the focus on power generation.
So, yes, I do think it's going to be very busy.
OK.
Next, after 25 years of talks, the European Union has approved a trade deal with the Mercosur bloc of countries in South America, creating what would be the world's largest free trade area.
Mercosur is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Supporters in Brussels say it's a geopolitical win, especially as the US turns more protectionist and China deepens its influence in Latin America.
The agreement is still deeply contested though, with France, Ireland and Poland warning it could undercut European farmers.
So is it worth the political cost?
Well, here's Cecilia Malmström, who's the European Commissioner for Trade, who led the EU negotiations for five years.
It took a long time, but there were long breaks for difficult political relations during those 25 years.
But I think today is for real.
The world we live in today is a world where those of us who believe in fair, rule-based trade really needs to step up and to show that that is still possible.
And this agreement is, of course, beneficial for trade investment growth jobs cooperation, but is also a very strong geopolitical signal today to other powers who do not appreciate rule-based trade in the same way as we do.
Do you think this deal would have been politically possible if the US hadn't turned more protectionist?
Well, we've been close many times to approve it.
But there's also a lot of uncertainty domestically in many countries.
I mean, France is in a very difficult political situation domestically, so they felt it was impossible to say yes to this.
And it's also difficult in Poland.
But there's always something in some member countries.
But All along the way, a majority of countries have been in favour of doing this deal.
So I think it's good that finally they were brave enough to make it.
And we will make sure that those who are worried will not see their fears come true.
And there has also been a promise by the Commission that in the future long-term budget that is going to be negotiated the coming year, that there will also be provisions to make sure that farmers are protected should there be unfair competition.
Cecilia Malmstrom with my colleague Leanna Byrne.
Back to Chris Lowe now from FHM Financial in New York.
We were promised jobs data in the US, important jobs data today.
Tell us.
That's right.
50,000 jobs created in December 2020.
It's not strong, but it's better than the last couple of months.
Job losses over the fourth quarter as a whole.
The U.S. lost 67,000 jobs total in the fourth quarter.
And what's really remarkable about that is it's happening while the economy appears to be expanding at a 4 rate.
So we have very rapid GDP growth there.
No job growth.
The unemployment rate did fall in December.
However, that's another bright sign that maybe things are getting better, that perhaps the job market is firming up in response to the rate cuts we saw in the second half of last year.
Sounds like data that can be spun both ways.
Well, that's right.
But I think the optimist in me really wants to say that hey, it's not great, but it's better than October and November.
And hopefully things continue to improve from here.
Now let's talk about the US dollar because, according to the ING Bank, BRICS countries, including India China Brazil, offloaded US30 billion in treasuries in the last month.
Here's Gary Smith from Columbia Threadneedle Investments, who's been looking at the potential of BRICS countries having their own currency.
I asked him whether the dominance of the dollar is on the way.
It's still dominant.
But the dominance is gradually eroding and will probably continue to erode.
The US themselves, ex-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, said in 2017 the more we use the dollar as a weapon, the more incentivized people will be to try and find means of payments.
Where are the assets that would back up a BRICS currency?
A BRICS currency is a pipe dream.
We saw two years ago at the BRICS conference in Kazan, President Putin holding a currency note that was put together from the five currencies of the BRICS countries Brazil Russia India, China and South Africa.
I think that's as close as we're ever going to get to a BRICS currency.
It's a nice thing for people to talk about in the context of a pushback against the US dollar.
From a practical point of view, it's a very difficult thing to launch.
And Chris, do you think the use of the dollar is on the way in any meaningful sense?
Yeah, I do.
Emerging market central banks bought 59 metric tons of gold in November, for example, and they did that mostly by spending dollars.
So they're divesting away.
The issue is, can they find another currency?
I think the answer, if they want one, would either be the euro or use something like Bitcoin.
It has to be something that's backed outside of the bricks.
Chris, thank you very much indeed for being with us.
Now the UK bakery chain Gregg's, which is popular because of its competitively priced range of sausage rolls pasties donuts, those kind of products.
It says weight loss drugs are starting to affect its bottom line.
Its boss, Rasheen Curry, says people are looking for smaller portions, more protein, more fibre, since the rise of weight loss jabs like Wegavy and Manjaro.
Are they alone, though, in feeling the pinch?
Johnny Forsyth is Principal Strategist for Food & Drink at the market research company Mintel.
I get what they're saying about this trend towards healthier eating and how that might cut into their margins, particularly around consumer concern, around ultra-processed food.
I'm a lot more sceptical of the comment that weight loss drugs have impacted their business because, to be honest, there's very few people in the UK our data shows you know it's around about 5 of adults who are on these drugs.
And a lot of those adults are buying them privately.
So they have a very, very high level of income and without doing a disservice to Greg.
So I don't think that's really Greg's prime audience.
But the fact that everyone's talking about it means it's front of mind which might be driving the trend for smaller portions, more information about protein fibre, all those things.
Spot on really, I think.
I think what GLP drugs are doing is they're having a much bigger impact on the culture than on actual behavior.
And, you know, we have seen in recent years health trends really strengthen among consumers.
And we see it in our data that it's become much more important as a purchase factor.
And a lot of the trend drivers that GLP-1 drugs will drive, like things like high protein, food nutrient density, smaller portions.
Those were actually health trends that we're already seeing emerge.
So it might have just kind of given them a bit more oxygen.
And is this reflected elsewhere in the world, you think, where a company that's selling processed fast food is thinking OK, we're going to need to adapt our range here just to move a little bit down the line of something healthier?
Yes, I mean this could be a real problem for the likes of Greg's, the likes of McDonald's, in years to come.
So if we look in the US market, Our data shows that 18 of adults are currently taking GLP-1 drugs, so it's almost a fifth of the adult population.
And if suddenly those drugs become a lot cheaper because patents are running out or they're available on healthcare, suddenly you could be looking at a much bigger audience who are taking them.
And if you're not providing the kind of fresher healthier, nutrient dense food and smaller portions that those people are looking for, then naturally they're going to look elsewhere.
And another big change that's coming much more imminently is the availability of these drugs as a pill rather than an injection, which will make them more desirable as a medication alongside any cost issues.
People will just be keener on the idea.
How far can you shift a food brand though, to take account of this?
Can you, if you're selling food that isn't known for being healthy, that isn't the top of the list of attributes that your menu has?
Can you shift the brand far enough to take that in?
I think it's tricky.
I think you can shift your brand a little bit.
For sure.
Just because more people are looking for healthier food and more people might be on weight loss drugs doesn't mean that people don't want delicious food, But what you're going to have to do is work harder to show that the ingredients that go into that food are better.
But I suspect probably the more obvious reason that Gregg's sales have suffered is because of the cost of living.
So it's just become so expensive to eat out that a lot of people are bringing packed lunches or reducing that kind of disposable spend.
And that's World Business Report.
