(Reuters) – Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods told analysts on Friday that the company has the technology that would be needed to produce higher cost barrels from Venezuela.
While he had previously called the South American country “uninvestable” in remarks earlier this month at a White House meeting that later drew a rebuke from President Donald Trump, Woods said that he believed the U.S. administration is committed to making the changes needed to attract and secure investment. The company departed the country nearly 20 years ago after its assets there were nationalized.
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“If you look at what they’re currently focused on, it’s stabilizing the country, kick-starting the economy, and then ultimately transitioning into a more representative, democratically elected government. I think those are the right objectives that the government’s working on for the benefit of Venezuela,” he said, adding that the company remained willing to send a technical team to visit the country. Woods said during a fourth-quarter earnings call that Exxon has the technology needed to produce higher cost barrels from the country known for its heavy crude.
“We have that with the work that we’ve done up in Canada and the technology organization’s focus on developing heavy oil resources, we think we bring an advantaged approach that will lead to lower-cost production, higher recovery, and therefore more economic barrels onto the marketplace,” Woods said.
Potential changes in Venezuela could create a more favourable operating environment near Guyana, even as parts of the Stabroek oil block remain under force majeure due to a border dispute, Woods added.
Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru and Sheila Dang in Houston; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Nathan Crooks and Franklin Paul
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