Los Angeles U-Haul breaks through anti-Iranian protests
In Westwood, a man in a U-Haul truck plows through a crowd of protesters marching in support of regime change in Iran.
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President Donald Trump said Sunday that he may block Exxon Mobil from investing in Venezuela after the company’s CEO called the country “uninvestable” during a White House meeting last week.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods told President Trump during a meeting with other oil company executives at the White House on January 9 that Venezuela needs to change its laws before it becomes an attractive investment opportunity.
His comments were a blow to President Trump’s goal of persuading U.S. oil companies to spend billions of dollars to boost Venezuela’s oil industry, after President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were arrested on January 3 and taken to New York to stand trial on charges of narcoterrorism and cocaine trafficking.
“I didn’t like what Exxon was doing,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way back to Washington on Jan. 11. “I would probably want to shut Exxon out. I didn’t like what they were doing. They’re too petty.”
Exxon did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
“We’ve had our assets seized there twice, and you can imagine that re-entry a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve seen here so far,” Woods told Trump at the White House.
Venezuela’s oil production has been hit by U.S. sanctions in recent years. Chevron is the only U.S. company operating in the country, but officials expect it to expand soon, with companies such as Exxon Mobil and Conoco Phillips also joining. Venezuela nationalized the assets of Exxon and Conoco about 20 years ago.
Woods said Exxon needs permanent investment protections in place and the country’s hydrocarbon laws also need to be reformed.
“If you look at the legal and commercial structures and frameworks in place in Venezuela today, it is uninvestable,” he said at the time.
Contributor: Bart Jansen, USA TODAY.
