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“I
didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump said to reporters on Air
Force One as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida. “They’re
playing too cute.”
During a meeting Friday with oil executives, Trump tried to
assuage the concerns of the companies and said they would be
dealing directly with the U.S., rather than the Venezuelan
government.
Some, however, weren’t convinced.
“If we look at the commercial constructs and frameworks in place
today in Venezuela, today it’s uninvestable,” said Darren Woods,
CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company.
An ExxonMobil spokesperson did not immediately respond Sunday to
a request for comment.
Also on Friday, Trump signed an executive order that seeks to
ensure that Venezuelan oil revenue remains protected from being
used in judicial proceedings.
The executive order, made public on Saturday, says that if the
funds were to be seized for such use, it could “undermine
critical U.S. efforts to ensure economic and political stability
in Venezuela.” Venezuela has a history of state asset seizures,
ongoing U.S. sanctions and decades of political uncertainty.
Getting U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela and help
rebuild the country’s infrastructure is a top priority of the
Trump administration after Maduro's capture.
The White House is framing the effort to “run” Venezuela in
economic terms, and Trump has seized tankers carrying Venezuelan
oil, has said the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to
50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan crude,
and plans to control sales worldwide indefinitely.
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Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Florida.
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