U.S. Big Oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron stated Jan. 30 they haven’t any plans to extend their capital spending in Venezuela this yr while they wait and see how authorized and political reforms unfold to make the nation extra inviting to international oil investments.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted U.S. oil firms will spend greater than $100 billion in Venezuela to dramatically rebuild its dilapidated infrastructure since forcibly eradicating chief Nicolás Maduro from energy. But Exxon chairman and CEO Darren Woods infamously drew Trump’s ire earlier this month when he informed the president that Venezuela is presently “uninvestable” till main reforms are enacted, and the nation sees actual stability. After all, Exxon had its oil property expropriated in Venezuela lower than 20 years in the past.
Trump later stated Woods’ remarks have been “too cute” and that he could also be inclined to maintain the world’s largest Big Oil participant out of Venezuela.
Woods stated Jan. 30 in his fourth-quarter earnings name that he does consider the Trump administration is dedicated to creating the vital adjustments to ultimately flip Venezuela into a viable funding choice. How quickly stays to be seen. The nation’s National Assembly started approving reforms to its oil and fuel legal guidelines on Jan. 29.
“Venezuela has those challenges that I mentioned, which I believe in time will get addressed,” Woods stated, arguing the different problem is the excessive price of extracting and processing the further heavy grade of tar-like crude oil in Venezuela.
He stated Exxon already has the experience in producing heavy oil sands in Canada that may translate.
“We think we bring an advantaged approach that will lead to lower-cost production, higher recovery and, therefore, more economic barrels onto the marketplace. That’s I think the opportunity set that will play out over time,” Woods stated, including that Exxon continues to be dedicated to sending a small technical crew to Venezuela to evaluate the state of affairs in the close to time period.
Chevron, on the different hand, is the solely U.S. firm presently producing oil in Venezuela because of a particular license. Chevron churns out practically 250,000 barrels a day of oil—about a quarter of Venezuela’s virtually 1 million barrels of every day output.
Chevron chairman and CEO Mike Wirth reiterated it may hike its oil flows by 50% in lower than two years, however that will solely imply elevating Venezuela’s total output to only greater than 1.1 million barrels for a nation—with the world’s largest confirmed oil reserves—that peaked many years in the past with an output of practically 4 million barrels.
Notably, Wirth stated Chevron’s Venezuelan exercise is self-funded by way of its joint ventures with the state oil firm PDVSA, and there are not any present plans so as to add further capital spending simply but.
“I think it’s a little early to say what our longer-term outlook is,” Wirth stated in his earnings name. “You should expect us to remain focused on value and capital discipline. It’s a large resource that has the opportunity to become a more sizable part of our portfolio in the future, but we also need to see stability in the country. We need to have confidence in the fiscal regime.”
Wirth stated Chevron is reviewing the new hydrocarbons regulation that was tentatively accepted and that there are a “number of signposts” Chevron will probably be watching.
“Like anywhere we invest, fiscal terms, stability, regulatory predictability are important. So it will have to compete in our portfolio versus attractive investments in many other parts of the world,” Wirth added. “With the right changes, we certainly could see our operations and the footprint expand in Venezuela. And we’re working with the U.S. government and the Venezuelan government to try to create circumstances that would enable that.”
Earnings beats
Exxon and Chevron each posted quarterly earnings beats, however in addition they are each dealing with declining earnings primarily from deflated crude oil costs—the similar decrease costs that make Venezuelan investments more difficult for now.
In spite of the weaker commodity setting, Chevron reported its largest oil and fuel manufacturing volumes in its historical past, while Exxon touted its best output in greater than 40 years.
Exxon’s inventory dipped barely by 1%, while Chevron inventory rose by greater than 1%.
More than half of Exxon’s manufacturing got here from the still-booming Permian Basin in West Texas and its quickly rising output from offshore Guyana, which borders Venezuela. Chevron, which is the second-largest Permian producer after Exxon, turned Exxon’s high accomplice in Guyana after it closed its $53 billion acquisition of Hess final yr.
Woods stated Exxon is awaiting an International Court of Justice arbitration ruling below over a border dispute of worldwide waters between Guyana and Venezuela. A positive ruling may unlock extra offshore exploration for Exxon and Chevon.
“Obviously, with the developments in Venezuela, perhaps we’ll see an opportunity with less naval patrols that will make it a little more friendly environment,” Wood stated, including that he’s optimistic. “We will have an opportunity to do what we need to do in that portion of the [exploration] block when it’s available to us.”
Exxon reported fourth-quarter earnings of $6.5 billion, down 15% year-on-year from $7.6 billion. Full-year 2025 earnings got here in at $28.8 billion, down 14% from $33.7 billion in 2024.
Chevron reported quarterly earnings of just about $2.8 billion, down year-on-year virtually 15% from greater than $3.2 billion. Full-year earnings have been $12.3 billion, down 30% from $17.7 the yr prior.
