ExxonMobil signs preliminary deal to return to Venezuela after 19 years

A first step after nearly two decades

ExxonMobil and the Venezuelan government signed a memorandum of understanding in Caracas, reported on 10 November 2026, that clears the way for the US company to return to the country it left in 2007. The signing was attended by acting president Delcy Rodríguez and Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Upstream. The company said it welcomed the chance to assess potential upstream opportunities with the Venezuelan government and PDVSA, the state oil company. Memoranda of this kind are generally nonbinding, and the New York Times reported that the agreement gives Exxon time to weigh production opportunities before committing. Exxon left after the government of Hugo Chávez nationalized the last privately operated oil fields, and it has long sought compensation for the assets it gave up. Its statement set out the conditions for any investment:

“This memorandum is a meaningful first step, but any future investment would require stable policies, clear regulations, strong investment protections and competitive returns.”

Rodríguez frames the deal

Rodríguez described the signing as a very important step that follows months of negotiations for an effective return. She said the memorandum covers brownfield and greenfield fields holding billions of barrels in reserves, and that ExxonMobil has the capacity, technology and investment needed to operate them. Her remarks contrast sharply with her stance in March 2025, when, as Maduro's vice president, she accused ExxonMobil of conspiring against Venezuela for more than a decade. Ammann called the memorandum a first step in a longer process and said the company's capabilities, combined with the country's resources, would bring significant benefits to all parties.

“Today is a very important signing.”

Pressure from Washington and a new legal framework

Since Nicolás Maduro was captured in a US military operation on 3 January, President Donald Trump has urged American energy companies to invest in Venezuela. Rodríguez governs under strong pressure from the Trump administration and backed a reform of the hydrocarbons law that opened the oil sector to 100% private capital. In April she reported meetings with ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, among other firms. Chevron, which never left Venezuela, plans to double its oil production there over five years in a $7bn plan, and Eni and General Electric have also announced deals. Woods had earlier called the country 'uninvestable', and in January he said significant changes to its commercial and legal system would be needed. On the third-quarter results call on 30 October, he cautioned against exuberance and said the company was not in a rush.

“There is progress being made on those areas, working on fiscal regimes, working on legal regimes, working on investor protections.”

Unresolved claims and what comes next

Exxon and ConocoPhillips left Venezuela after refusing Chávez's demand to hand majority control of their activity to the state, and they have since sought billions of dollars they say they are owed for the expropriation. Deutsche Welle reported that Woods had earlier argued the industry could not be revived without deep reforms to the country's political and economic systems. The memorandum does not resolve those claims, and it does not commit the company to投资 or production. Exxon's own statement makes any future investment conditional on stable policies and strong protections. The next step is to turn the preliminary text into concrete agreements, which Rodríguez said she hopes will happen very soon.