President Trump urges US oil giants to invest in Venezuela’s reserves, but executives cite past seizures and call the country ‘uninvestable’ without reforms.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump pressed top US oil executives to invest in Venezuela’s vast reserves but was met with a cautious reception.
ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods dismissed the country as “uninvestable” without sweeping legal and commercial reforms. “We’ve had our assets seized there twice,” Woods said.
Trump told industry leaders his administration would decide which firms operate in Venezuela following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro. “We’re going to be making the decision as to which oil companies are going to go in,” he said at a White House meeting.
He argued companies would now have “total security” and would “deal with us directly,” signalling the US would cut Caracas out of decisions on its own resources.
The meeting included executives from Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Shell and others alongside Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A ConocoPhillips spokesman said CEO Ryan Lance appreciated talks about “preparing Venezuela to be investment ready.” Trump later claimed participants had “sort of formed a deal” and companies were ready to invest “at least 100 Billion Dollars.”
Analysts warned that reviving Venezuela’s industry rests on shaky ground. They cited outdated infrastructure, political instability and costly extraction of heavy crude.
“There’s lots of talk about the size of the reserves… but what’s often missing is how realistic it is for those to be economically extracted,” said energy analyst Rich Collett-White.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who said Washington will control the industry “indefinitely,” admitted rebuilding “will take time.”
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez has said her government remains in charge. The state oil company said it was in negotiations with Washington.
Chevron is currently the only US firm licensed to operate in Venezuela. ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips exited in 2007 after demands by then-president Hugo Chavez.
In a social media post, Trump said he cancelled a second wave of strikes due to “cooperation” from Venezuela.
Sanctioned since 2019, Venezuela sits on about a fifth of the world’s oil reserves but produced only around 1% of global output in 2024.
Trump sees the reserves as a windfall in his fight to lowe
