Exxon CEO says Venezuela needs to transition to democracy for oil investment
ExxonMobil Venezuela must transition to democracy before investment in the South American nation’s decrepit oil industry can make sense, CEO Darren Woods said Friday.
President Donald Trump is pressuring oil companies to invest at least $100 billion in Venezuela to rebuild the country’s oil industry after the U.S. capture of former President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.
However, Woods told Trump at the White House on January 9 that Venezuela in its current form was “uninvestable.” The Exxon CEO’s blunt assessment angered the president, who threatened to cut the oil major from any future investment in the country.
Woods stood by his assessment in an interview with CNBC on Friday. He said the Caracas government needed to make major reforms before Exxon would seriously consider returning to Venezuela.
“These priorities start with one priority, which is to stabilize the country,” Woods told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “The second is to stimulate the economy and try to undo some of the damage caused by decades of abuses by dictators, and then eventually transition to representative government.”
The Trump administration has not laid out a clear plan for holding elections and transitioning to a democratic government in Venezuela. Senior administration officials said they are currently focused on stabilizing the country and improving its economy through oil sales.
The United States is working with Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, a longtime insider of the authoritarian regime installed by former President Hugo Chavez. The collaboration with Rodriguez has raised concerns among some observers that the current regime could remain in place as long as it meets the Trump administration’s oil-related demands.
Exxon left Venezuela in 2007 after the Chavez regime seized its assets. They have billions of dollars in unpaid claims against Caracas for nationalization.
“Frankly, from our perspective, there’s a principle that we stand by that if you don’t uphold the sanctity of contracts, if you choose instead to steal the investments we’ve made and undermine the work we’ve done, we can’t continue to work with you,” Woods said.
Trump told oil industry CEOs at a White House meeting that his administration does not plan to force Venezuela to exercise claims arising from its 2007 nationalization.
Trump said on January 9: “We’re not going to look at what people lost in the past because it was their fault. He was a different president. You’re going to make a lot of money, but we’re not going back.”
Venezuela, one of the founding members of OPEC, is thought to have the world’s largest crude oil reserves, but its energy infrastructure is in disrepair.
Investments in repairing Venezuela’s infrastructure could be financially challenging as the world’s crude oil glut has driven down prices. In 2025, oil prices recorded their steepest annual loss since 2020 as OPEC+ increased production and the United States continued to pump oil at a strong pace.
Earlier Friday, Exxon reported fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street forecasts, but both profit and revenue fell from the same period last year due to weak crude oil prices. It is noteworthy that Exxon reached the highest net production of the last 40 years with 4.7 million barrels per day. The company, which broke production records during this period with its assets in the Permian Basin and Guyana, pumped 4.98 million barrels per day in the quarter.
Exxon’s rival StripIt is the only US oil major operating in Venezuela under a special license issued by the Treasury Department. Chevron says it can increase production in Venezuela by 50% in the next 18 to 24 months.
While Exxon’s shares fell more than 1% after announcing results, its shares have had a strong start to the year. The stock is up nearly 16% in 2026, outpacing the S&P 500’s 1.6% gain.
