U.S. 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 the Venezuelan market is “uninvestable” in its current state. Venezuela seized Exxon’s and Conoco’s assets in 2007, and Caracas owes the companies billions of dollars in outstanding claims from arbitration cases.
“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.
“If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela today, it’s uninvestable.”
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Himani Sarkar)