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US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he might block Exxon Mobil from investing in Venezuela after the oil major’s CEO called the country “uninvestable” during a White House meeting last week.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods told Trump that Venezuela would need to change its laws before it could be an attractive investment opportunity, during a White House meeting on Friday with other oil executives. His comments were a blow to Trump’s goal of convincing US oil firms to spend billions of dollars to revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry.
“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 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We’ve had our assets seized there twice, and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve historically seen here,” Woods told Trump at the White House on Friday.
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Woods said that Exxon needed durable investment protections introduced and the country’s hydrocarbons law also needed to be reformed. “If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela today, it’s uninvestable,” he said at the time.
