President Donald Trump said on Sunday night that he is leaning toward keeping Exxon Mobil, the largest oil company in the United States, out of his plans for Venezuela oil after the company’s CEO told a White House roundtable that the country is “uninvestable.”
Trump met with leaders of multiple oil companies at the White House on Friday to discuss the administration’s $100 billion plan to rebuild Venezuela’s oil market. Executives from Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Marathon, and Valero were also in attendance at the roundtable and, for the most part, expressed enthusiasm about opportunities in Venezuela, which will be under U.S. oversight following the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods, however, expressed some caution about restarting operations in Venezuela, saying that “significant changes” are needed in the country’s infrastructure.
“We have had our assets seized there twice and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve historically seen and what is currently the state,” Woods said. “Today it’s uninvestable.”
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump expressed displeasure with Exxon.
“You know, we have so many that wanted [to be involved] – I’d probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute.”
Woods argued that Venezuela would need to change its regulatory and legal frameworks while guaranteeing the protection of foreign capital. He added that Exxon was prepared to send a team to the country to assess the condition of Venezuela’s oil infrastructure. Asked by Trump how long it would take Exxon Mobil to get started in Venezuela, he replied, “We can hit the ground in the next couple of weeks.”
“That’s what we want,” Trump said. “We want speed and quality.”
Trump also promised security guarantees for the oil companies that go into Venezuela. Exxon was forced out of the country in 2007 when former socialist dictator Hugo Chávez required foreign companies to hand over control of their companies to a state-owned oil company.
Exxon said it was forced to leave behind about $20 billion in assets after the nationalization of the oil industry in Venezuela. An international arbitration court ordered Venezuela to pay Exxon approximately $1.6 billion in 2014, but the socialist government has disputed that ruling, and Exxon has yet to receive payment, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Exxon is not the only U.S. oil company to lose billions of dollars after being forced out of Venezuela. Citgo also estimates that the Venezuelan government is holding around $20 billion in its assets, and ConocoPhillips says it was forced to leave $12 billion in the country and is still owed around $10 billion by the Venezuelan government.
Chevron was the only American oil company to continue operating in Venezuela after the government nationalized the oil industry, but it was forced to relinquish control of many of its assets.
Trump said during the roundtable that his administration is not seeking to recover lost assets in Venezuela.
“We’re not going to look at what people lost in the past, because that was their fault. That was a different president. You’re going to make a lot of money, but we’re not going to go back,” he said.
The president believes the United States can rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry in less than two years, provided “very large” American companies invest in the project.
“A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue,” he said last week.
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