President Donald Trump signaled Sunday that ExxonMobil could be excluded from any future U.S. involvement in Venezuela’s oil sector, saying he was unhappy with the company’s response following a meeting at the White House last week.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the oil giant was “playing too cute.”
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response. You know, we have so many that want it. I’d probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response,” he said.
ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods told the administration on Friday at a roundtable event with other industry executives that Venezuela is currently “uninvestable,” citing weak legal protections, past asset seizures and the need for major changes to the country’s hydrocarbon laws before ExxonMobil would consider reentering.
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Woods said the company would take a long-term approach and would need durable legal and investment protections, as well as an invitation from the Venezuelan government, before committing, though he said he was confident the Trump administration could work with Caracas to put those changes in place.
“We do not go into any opportunity with a short-term mindset. There’s a value proposition that we have to meet. It has to be a win‑win‑win proposition,” he told the president.
ExxonMobile is one of the largest publicly traded international oil and gas companies and has a long history in Venezuela.
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Woods said the company first started in the Latin American country in the 1940s. It pulled out in 2007 along with ConocoPhillips after Hugo Chávez’s government moved to nationalize major oil projects and seize foreign companies’ assets.
Trump pressed Woods on Friday about how quickly ExxonMobil could move if a deal were reached.
The CEO said the company could “hit the ground almost immediately” and begin an assessment within the next couple of weeks, which prompted Trump to say the administration wanted “speed and quality.”
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