ExxonMobil's CEO, Darren Woods, publicly declared Venezuela's current investment environment as 'uninvestable' during a White House meeting with oil executives chaired by President Donald Trump on January 9, 2026. Woods emphasized the critical need for significant changes to Venezuela's commercial frameworks, legal system, hydrocarbon laws, and durable investment protections before any re-entry. This assessment stems from ExxonMobil's past experience, having had its assets seized twice in the country, most recently during Hugo Chávez's government. President Trump reacted strongly to Woods's caution, stating he was 'inclined' to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela, accusing the company of 'playing too cute' with its response. Despite Trump's push for U.S. oil companies to invest up to $100 billion to revitalize Venezuela's ailing oil industry, many other executives at the meeting also expressed significant reluctance. They underscored the necessity for extensive security and financial guarantees to mitigate the high risks involved. Chevron remains the only major U.S. oil company currently operating in Venezuela under special licenses, though even their vice-chair expressed limited optimism for expanding operations significantly in the current landscape. Venezuela possesses the world's largest proven oil reserves, estimated at 303 billion barrels. However, years of mismanagement, underinvestment, international sanctions, and infrastructure decay have severely hampered its production, which has plummeted from over 3 million barrels per day in the late 1990s to well below 1 million bpd, some estimates citing 400,000-600,000 bpd by 2023-2024. The consensus among the oil majors is that while the resource potential is undeniable, the current political and legal instability makes large-scale, long-term investment prohibitively risky.