ExxonMobil may see itself shut out of Venezuela.
President Trump hinted that ExxonMobil may find itself blocked from making investments in Venezuela after the CEO claimed the country was “uninvestable.”
On Friday, the CEO of ExxonMobil, while at the White House, expressed doubts about whether investing in Venezuela will yield good returns for his company due to the current laws in the country.
In response to the CEO’s comments, Trump said Exxon Mobil is “playing cute.”
The Guardian reported more on Trump’s comments on ExxonMobil’s CEO comments:
Donald Trump has said he might block ExxonMobil from investing in Venezuela after the oil company’s chief executive called the country “uninvestable” during a White House meeting last week.
Darren Woods told the US president that Venezuela would need to change its laws before it could be an attractive investment opportunity, during the high-profile meeting on Friday with at least 17 other oil executives.
Trump had urged the group to spend $100bn to revitalise Venezuela’s oil industry in a meeting less than a week after US forces captured and removed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power in a brazen overnight raid.
Woods’ sceptical remarks quickly emerged as the dominant headline, undercutting the White House’s hopes of building momentum from its engagement with the world’s most prominent oil executives.
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way back to Washington on Sunday. “I’ll probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute.”
Exxon, ConocoPhillips and Chevron – the three largest US oil producers – were for decades the most prominent partners of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA.
The government of late president Hugo Chávez nationalised the industry between 2004 and 2007, and while Chevron negotiated deals to partner with PDVSA, ConocoPhillips and Exxon left the country and filed for prominent arbitration cases shortly after.
Venezuela now owes over $13bn collectively to ConocoPhillips and Exxon for the expropriations, according to court rulings.
Here is the CEO of ExxonMobil, Darren Wood’s comments:
Exxon CEO: If you look at the commercial constructs, frameworks in place in Venezuela today, it’s uninvestable. Significant changes have to be made to these frameworks, the legal system. There has to be durable investment protections and change to the hydrocarbon laws. pic.twitter.com/vpdH6ftfzm
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 9, 2026
Watch Trump’s response:
Trump warns ExxonMobil after CEO calls Venezuela ‘uninvestible’: ‘They’re playing too cute’ https://t.co/P5FFs9osud pic.twitter.com/DHNNEKogog
— New York Post (@nypost) January 12, 2026
CNBC reported Chevron is currently the only U.S. oil firm operating in Venezuela:
Trump has been pushing for U.S. oil companies to invest at least $100 billion in Venezuela’s energy sector, pledging to support them with government security assistance.
The call follows an audacious U.S. military operation in Venezuela on Jan. 3 to depose Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Asked by a reporter for clarity on the type of backstops and security guarantees that would be provided to oil companies, Trump did not provide specific details.
“We are going to have guarantees,” Trump said. “They had problems in the past because they didn’t have Trump as a president,” he added.
U.S. oil firms acknowledged that Venezuela, which boasts the world’s largest oil reserves, represents an intriguing opportunity but some have expressed caution about rushing in to re-enter.
Chevron is currently the only major American oil firm still operating in Venezuela.