Directors of important oil companies asked this Friday for “significant changes” and security guarantees from the United States before committing to invest millionaire amounts in the crude oil industry in Venezuela with the auspices of Washington.
“Our assets have been seized there twice, so you would imagine that re-entering a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve seen historically and from the current situation,” Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said during a meeting at the White House.
Woods attended, along with more than a dozen representatives from companies such as Chevron, the only US oil company present today in Venezuela, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Hilcorp, Eni and the Spanish Repsol, to a meeting with President Donald Trump and his cabinet to discuss the reconstruction of the hydrocarbon industry in the Caribbean country.
The meeting takes place almost a week after US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas and Washington said it will manage that nation’s government and oil sales.
“If we look at the legal and commercial structures and frameworks in force today in Venezuela, it is not an attractive country for investment. (…) There must be lasting protections for investment and there must be a change in the country’s hydrocarbon laws,” Woods asked.
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If all these conditions are met, ExxonMobile could “start working immediately and, in the coming weeks, begin the evaluation, and from there, understand what is needed,” the manager indicated.
Several of the oil executives listed the possibilities and capacity of their companies, although at the moment they did not explicitly commit to an investment agreement that in principle would also have to be negotiated with the interim government of Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, now acting president.
Trump guarantees security
Trump insisted that his Administration will provide security and assistance to oil companies that invest in Venezuela.
“They know the risks. I mean, there are risks. We are going to help them. We are going to make it much easier for them. They are going to be there for a long time. We will be there together for a long, long time. And they are going to extract the oil and they are going to lower oil prices. They are going to make a lot of money. They are going to recover their investment,” said the Republican magnate.
The American added that “the people of Venezuela will be one of the main beneficiaries” of the revitalization of its hydrocarbon industry. “The US will also be a big beneficiary of what we have done,” he added.
Washington has committed for the moment to capturing the proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan crude oil to later transfer them to the South American country.
With information from EFE
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