'Uninvestable': Oil Execs Rebuff Trump's Demands For $100bn Investment In Venezuela

The US Energy Secretary denies ‘stealing’ Venezuelan oil, despite a plan to hold revenues in offshore accounts under US control

By The Cradle

At a meeting at the White House on 9 January, the CEOs of major US energy firms expressed skepticism about participating in President Donald Trump’s scheme to invest $100 billion to “revive” Venezuela’s sanctions-battered oil sector.

The meeting took place one week after US Special Forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and transferred them to New York to stand trial on trumped-up “narco-terrorism” charges.

After abducting Maduro, Trump said the US would “take over” Venezuela’s oil reserves, which are considered the largest in the world.

“It’s uninvestable,” ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods told White House officials after hearing Trump’s proposal to invest in the country.

“There are a number of legal and commercial frameworks that would have to be established to even understand what kind of returns we would get on the investment.”

CNN reported that other executives “expressed similar reluctance,” warning Trump would need to provide extensive security and financial guarantees before beginning a long-term effort to revive an oil sector battered by decades of US sanctions.