ExxonMobil’s CEO bluntly says Venezuela is “uninvestable,” Trump retorts angrily: Then don’t come!

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After the company’s CEO bluntly stated that Venezuela’s current business environment is “uninvestable,” Trump threatened to block ExxonMobil’s investment activities in Venezuela.

According to CCTV News, on January 9 local time, U.S. President Trump held a meeting at the White House with executives from about 20 major oil companies, including Chevron and ExxonMobil, in an attempt to reach an agreement on investing in Venezuela’s oil industry. However, several U.S. oil company executives were cautious in their public statements regarding further investment in Venezuela. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods warned that “significant changes” must be made in the country before making large-scale capital commitments.

According to the Financial Times, Trump responded on Sunday that he was dissatisfied with ExxonMobil’s response and was inclined to exclude the company from the Venezuelan market:

I don’t like ExxonMobil’s response… I may be inclined to let ExxonMobil out. They’re playing tricks there.

“Uninvestable” Business Assessment

At the White House meeting, facing the U.S. government’s strategic intention to use oil revenue to revive Venezuela’s economy and “benefit the U.S.,” Darren Woods took a more skeptical stance. He pointed out to the President that, given ExxonMobil’s assets in the country had been seized twice before, a third reentry into the market would require “quite significant changes” compared to past and current circumstances.

Woods made it clear that, if you look at Venezuela’s current legal and business framework, “today it is uninvestable.”

The U.S. government is speeding up negotiations with Western oil companies, trying to attract at least $100 billion in private sector investment to help rebuild Venezuela’s devastated oil sector. Woods’ remarks highlight that despite the White House’s efforts to lobby, major global energy groups remain cautious about entering the country without concrete guarantees.

Concessions under Pressure

However, under pressure from Trump, Woods’ attitude softened somewhat. He said that ExxonMobil would send a technical team to Venezuela within weeks to assess the situation and said he was “confident” that the needed reforms for investment would be “put in place.”

Unlike ExxonMobil’s cautious approach, other oil executives conveyed a more optimistic message to Trump.

Chevron, currently the only U.S. company operating on the ground in Venezuela, said it could increase production by 50% within 18–24 months by expanding existing operations. The company’s current daily output is about 240,000 barrels. Trump told reporters that many people in the oil industry are “very interested” in the opportunities in Venezuela.

Analysts believe that without legal, financial, and security assurances from Washington, the oil industry is unlikely to commit to large-scale investments in Venezuela.

In response to corporate concerns about safeguards, Trump replied on Sunday: “They’ll be safe, there will be no problem, absolutely never a problem.”

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