Big Oil skeptical of Trump’s Venezuela push without big changes

WASHINGTON ― Some of America’s top oil executives told President Donald Trump their companies aren’t ready to invest in oil operations in Venezuela unless major changes are made to ensure the viability of the ventures.

The oil industry pointed to challenges with Trump’s Venezuela oil plan as the president met with executives from 17 oil companies on Jan. 9, nearly one week after the United States military captured the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

“We first got into Venezuela in the 1940s. We’ve had our assets seized twice,” ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said. “So you can imagine, to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve seen historically here and what is currently the state.”

More: Trump meets with oil execs after Venezuela attack. Here’s why.

Trump has said the United States will take control of between 30 billion and 50 billion barrels of Venezuela oil and is working to convince American oil companies to spend billions to upgrade aging oil infrastructure to increase the country’s energy output. He has said the companies will more than earn their money back through profits, with oil sold to both Americans and Venezuelans.

But Woods said existing legal and commercial challenges make the country’s oil “uninvestable” unless changes are made for legal, financial and security guarantees. “There has to be durable investment protections and there has to be a change to the hydrocarbon laws in the country.”

More: Trump says Venezuela will give up to 50 million barrels of oil to US

If the Trump administration is able to address those needs, ExxonMobil can “hit the ground” quickly, Woods said. He said the company plans to assemble a technical team to assess the state of the oil industry in Venezuela. “We haven’t been in the country in almost 20 years,” he said.

Trump said he hopes to strike a deal with the oil companies that would include security guarantees to keep the companies “physically safe, in addition to financially safe.”

“I have an idea what I want, what I think we should have,” Trump said of a potential deal. “We have to get them to invest, and then we have to get their money back as quickly as we can. And then we can divvy it all up between Venezuela, the United States and them. I think it’s simple. I think the formula is simple. We start with a brand-new plate.”

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum joined Trump and the oil executives at the meeting.

More: Trump reveals how long he expects US to control Venezuelan oil