Trump says Venezuela 'open for business,' but big oil isn't convinced; 'Uninvestable' says Exxon

US President Donald Trump on Friday (Jan 9) met with top American oil executives, urging them to pour money into Venezuela's vast oil reserves, pitching the country as 'open for business' after the dramatic capture of president Nicolas Maduro. However, the response from the industry was cautious at best, with one top executive commenting that Venezuela was "uninvestable".

Was a deal reached?

After the vital meeting, Trump claimed that big oil companies were prepared to invest "at least 100 Billion Dollars" though he offered no details. However, reports suggest otherwise. Despite Trump's assurance that companies will have "total security," his pitch was met with scepticism.

According to AFP, Darren Woods, the chief executive of ExxonMobil, bluntly questioned the premise. "We've had our assets seized there twice," he said. "And so, you can imagine, to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes."

"If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela -- today, it's uninvestable," he added.

Trump argued that foreign firms had been exposed and unprotected under Maduro’s rule, but claimed that had now changed. "Now you have total security," he told the room. "It's a whole different Venezuela". He insisted that oil companies would "deal with us directly."

Who was in attendance?

Alongside Trump, in attendance were Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. They met with executives from Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Shell, Valero, Marathon, Trafigura, Vitol Americas and Repsol, among others.

A ConocoPhillips spokesperson said CEO Ryan Lance welcomed discussions about making Venezuela "investment ready," but stopped short of any commitments.

Energy analysts also warned that Venezuela's headline reserves, estimated at around 300 billion barrels, do not translate into quick or profitable production. Years of neglect, crumbling infrastructure, heavy crude that is costly to extract and lingering political risk all pose serious obstacles.

"There's lots of talk about the size of the reserves -- 300 billion barrels of proved reserves -- but what's often missing from the conversation is how realistic it is for those to be economically extracted," said Rich Collett White of Carbon Tracker.

Following the talks, even Trump's Energy Secretary Chris Wright conceded that rebuilding Venezuela's oil sector would "take time," despite earlier saying Washington could control it "indefinitely".