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(Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp. is looking seriously at reinvesting in Venezuela just months after Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods told President Donald Trump the South American nation’s oil sector was “uninvestable.”
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Venezuela recently changed energy regulations and contract terms to make them more attractive to foreign companies after the Trump administration captured former leader Nicolas Maduro in January and took control of the country’s crude exports.
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“Venezuela is a huge resource that’s now opened up more freely to the world,” Woods said on a conference call with analysts Friday. “I feel positive about what’s happening, the opportunity there.”
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Exxon has a long history in Venezuela but had its operations nationalized twice, first in the 1970s and then under President Hugo Chavez in the mid-2000s. At a White House meeting earlier this year, Woods told Trump the country was “uninvestable,” prompting the president to characterize Exxon as “too cute.”
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The recent changes by Venezuelan leaders could create “attractive investment opportunities,” Woods said. He emphasized Exxon’s long history of producing heavy oil, which makes up the bulk of Venezuela’s reserves. The company sent a team to the country in recent weeks to assess the situation.
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Not only is Venezuela home to the world’s largest oil reserves, but US Gulf Coast refineries highly-prize its crude.
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“More work to do but I think we’ll be uniquely positioned and play an important role in bringing those barrels to market,” Woods said.
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Arch-rival Chevron Corp. is Venezuela’s biggest foreign oil producer after deciding to remain in the country despite Chavez’s nationalizations.
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Venezuela owed Chevron about $1.5 billion as of the end of 2025. Higher oil prices mean that should be fully paid off by 2027, CEO Mike Wirth said Friday. At that point, Chevron would consider more investment in the country, where it currently produces about 250,000 barrels a day, he said.
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“I think in any scenario, we remain the advantaged incumbent,” Wirth said.
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