HOUSTON, March 3 - Exxon Mobil is preparing to send a technical delegation to Venezuela in a matter of weeks once logistical and security issues are settled, a senior company executive said on Tuesday. The move would mark a preliminary step as the oil major evaluates conditions on the ground and potential arrangements with the Venezuelan government.
Senior Vice President Jack Williams told attendees at a Morgan Stanley conference that Exxon will coordinate with Venezuelan authorities and that the company would be open to a more substantial return to the country if appropriate investment terms are agreed. "We will be interested in going back," Williams said, contingent on those terms being in place.
Williams noted Exxon's prior experience operating in Venezuela, saying the company is familiar with the country's resources and that its past operations there had been successful. He emphasized that Exxon has continued to advance its technical capabilities for working with heavy oil since it left Venezuela in 2007. "So I think we can do even better than we were before, in terms of the technology toolkit that we can bring," he said.
The comments were made in a broader context in which the U.S. president has urged oil companies to invest $100 billion in Venezuela and to help rebuild the nation's energy sector following the reported removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from office by U.S. forces in January. Williams and Exxon have previously said that any return to Venezuela would require durable investment protections, noting that the company's former assets in the country were expropriated on two prior occasions.
Exxon's immediate step is a technical visit aimed at assessing operational and security arrangements rather than an announcement of new projects. The company has highlighted both its institutional knowledge of Venezuelan heavy oil and the enhancements it has made to its technology for those resources since exiting the country in 2007.
Any further engagement by Exxon would depend on negotiations over investment terms with the Venezuelan government and assurances the company deems sufficient to protect its assets. The firm has repeatedly cited the need for durable protections given its history of expropriation there.
Contextual note - The information in this report reflects statements made by Exxon Mobil representatives and referenced actions by the U.S. president and U.S. forces as described during the conference remarks. It does not introduce facts beyond those remarks and related statements.