“WASHINGTON -- President Trump pressed executives from nearly two dozen oil companies to plant flags in Venezuela and drill into one of the world's largest oil bounties. But most of those executives stopped short of making public pledges to quickly invest.
Gathering at the White House less than a week after the U.S. incursion in Venezuela, executives from Chevron -- the only U.S. oil company active there -- Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and other companies signaled a willingness to examine new prospects in the Latin American country. However, they indicated they need security guarantees and an overhaul of Venezuela's legal and commercial framework to consider diving in.
Trump said the U.S. government would provide the companies with security guarantees, but it was clear he wanted companies to push into the country. At the start of the meeting, Trump said he intends U.S. oil companies to spend at least $100 billion there boosting oil production.
"If you don't want to go in, just let me know because I've got 25 people that aren't here today who are willing to take your place," Trump told the executives. He also said the U.S. and Venezuela are "working well together" to rebuild the country's oil-and-gas infrastructure.
The public part of the meeting, which was televised, featured cabinet members and oil executives sitting in a large horseshoe in the East Room of the White House. At the end, Trump asked the press to leave the room and said he would begin negotiating with the executives to strike a deal.
In the private portion of the meeting, executives from the big oil companies took a tone similar to their earlier assessments, according to people familiar with the matter.
The oil executives expressed support for the idea that they could find plenty of valuable crude in Venezuela, but noted significant hurdles preventing them from making immediate commitments.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods said Venezuela is currently uninvestable without significant changes to the country's commercial frameworks, legal system and hydrocarbon laws. He said he was confident that with the Trump administration working with the Venezuelan government, those changes can be put in place.
"We've had our assets seized there twice," he said. "You can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we've historically seen here and what is currently the state."
As the longer-term issues are being resolved, Woods said Exxon could have a technical team visit to assess the current state of Venezuelan assets within the next couple of weeks. Exxon first entered Venezuela in the 1940s but hasn't been active there for almost two decades, he noted. He said Exxon could assist getting Venezuelan crude to market through its integrated businesses, which includes refining and trading.
"It has to be a win-win-win proposition" for shareholders, for the government of Venezuela and for the people of the country, he said.
ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance noted his company is the largest nonsovereign credit holder in Venezuela today. Asked by Trump how much the company had left behind in the country, Lance said it was $12 billion.
"We're not gonna look at what people lost in the past because that was their fault," Trump said, before adding, "You're gonna make a lot of money, but we're not going to go back."
One of the big questions swirling in the industry this week was whether Trump, as part of his plan to encourage them to return, would pledge to make whole companies like Exxon and ConocoPhillips that left the country in 2007 when President Hugo Chavez nationalized their oil assets. The companies are still seeking to collect on most of those debts.
As for Chevron, Vice Chairman Mark Nelson thanked Trump for his leadership and for keeping American energy at the top of his agenda. He said the company has brought its production in Venezuela to 240,000 barrels a day at its four joint ventures and can boost output relatively quickly.
"I think we have a path forward here very shortly to be able to increase our liftings from those joint ventures 100% essentially effective immediately," he said.
Among the attendees were some of Trump's close oil-industry allies and donors such as billionaires Harold Hamm of Continental Resources and Jeff Hildebrand of Hilcorp.” [1]
1. World News: Oil Executives Stop Short Of Quick Pledges to Invest. Eaton, Collin; Linskey, Annie; Morenne, Benoit. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Jan 2026: A6.
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