A U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is “inclined” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after the company’s chief raised skepticism about oil investment efforts in the country.
Trump made the remark aboard Air Force One as he left West Palm Beach, Florida, telling reporters, “No me gustó la respuesta de Exxon. Están jugando demasiado astutos,” the Associated Press reported.
The remarks followed Trump’s meeting with oil executives on Friday, during which he tried to calm companies’ concerns about investing in Venezuela. The AP reported that Trump told the executives that they would handle matters directly with the United States, rather than with the Venezuelan government.
Despite the message, some executives remained unconvinced, according to the AP report. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said that, given current commercial structures and frameworks in Venezuela, “Si observamos las estructuras comerciales y los marcos vigentes hoy en Venezuela, hoy no es invertible.”
The AP also reported that on Friday Trump signed an executive order aimed at ensuring revenues from Venezuelan oil remain protected from being used in judicial proceedings. The order was made public Saturday and, according to the report, warned that seizing the funds for such use could “socavar los esfuerzos críticos de Estados Unidos para asegurar la estabilidad económica y política en Venezuela”.
The AP said Venezuela has a history of asset seizures by the state, ongoing U.S. sanctions, and decades of political uncertainty, elements the report described as shaping the investment environment. It also said getting U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela and help rebuild the country’s infrastructure is a central priority for Trump’s government after Nicolás Maduro’s capture.
In framing the broader effort, the AP said the White House has described it as “gestionar” Venezuela in economic terms. The report further said Trump has seized ships carrying Venezuelan oil and has said the United States is taking control of sales of 30 to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan crude, and that he plans to control sales worldwide indefinitely.
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