ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday he is “leaning” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its top official was skeptical of oil investment efforts in the country following the ouster of former President Nicolás Maduro.
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida. “They play too cute.
During a meeting on Friday with oil executives, Trump tried to calm companies’ concerns, saying they would deal directly with the U.S., not the Venezuelan government.
However, some were not convinced.
“If we look at the commercial structures and frameworks that exist in Venezuela today, it is uninvestable today,” said Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest US oil company.
A spokesman for ExxonMobil did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Trump also signed an executive order on Friday that seeks to ensure that Venezuela’s oil revenues remain protected from abuse in court proceedings.
The executive order, released Saturday, said that if the funds were seized for such use, it could “undermine critical U.S. efforts to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela.” Venezuela has a history of seizing state assets, ongoing US sanctions and decades of political uncertainty.
The top priority of the Trump administration after Maduro’s capture is to get US oil companies to invest in Venezuela and help rebuild the country’s infrastructure.
The White House is framing an effort to “manage” Venezuela economically, and Trump has seized tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, said the U.S. is taking over sales of 30 to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and plans to control sales globally indefinitely.
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