President Donald Trump told reporters he may exclude Exxon Mobil from his coordinated effort to provide security guarantees for American oil companies in Venezuela following their response to his administration’s offer.
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response. We have so many that want it. I’d probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response, they’re playing too cute,” Trump said.
Following the U.S.’s capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, Trump has been vocal about the increased investment opportunities for American oil companies in Venezuela, a country with hundreds of billions of barrels in untapped oil reserves.
Trump held a meeting on Friday with the nation’s top oil executives, promising them security guarantees if their companies began operating in Venezuela and ended for what many companies has been a decadeslong operating hiatus in the South American country. Trump told reporters on Air Force One Sunday that “a lot” of the oil executives made commitments to invest after the meeting, but Exxon did not respond as well.
“If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela today, it’s uninvestable,” Darren Woods, Exxon Mobil’s CEO, said during the meeting. “So, significant changes have to be made to those commercial frameworks, the legal system, there has to be durable investment protections, and there has to be a change to the hydrocarbon laws in the country.”
Exxon Mobil pulled its operations out of Venezuela in 2007, after former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez nationalized its industry and essentially gave Exxon Mobil and other American companies the boot when they did not ink a deal with Chavez’s government to stay. With Chavez’s successor now in American detention, many American oil companies see hope for a pathway back into operating in Venezuela.
Woods said on Friday he is “confident that with this administration and President Trump working hand‑in‑hand with the Venezuelan government,” that the changes he raised “can be put in place,” but that does not seem to be enough for Trump, who said Exxon Mobil was “playing too cute.”
“We think it’s absolutely critical in the short term that we get a technical team in place to assess the current state of the industry and the assets to understand what would be involved to help the people of Venezuela get production back on the market,” Woods said. “With the invitation of the Venezuelan government and with appropriate security guarantees, we are ready to put a team on the ground there.”
TRUMP MEETS WITH OIL EXECUTIVES IN BID TO BOOST US DRILLING IN VENEZUELA
Trump said on Friday that the companies would deal directly with his administration, not the interim Venezuelan government.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he is working well with interim President Delcy Rodriguez and that the 50 million barrels of oil she agreed to send him are currently “on its way” to the United States.