ExxonMobil says it has the technology to bring down the costs of producing Venezuela's difficult-to-process crude if the conditions are right to return to the South American nation.
Chief executive officer Darren Woods, who provoked the ire of US president Donald Trump earlier this month after he said Venezuela was currently "uninvestable", said Friday the company could lean into its experience in tapping heavy-crude resources in Canada.
"We bring an advantaged approach that will lead to lower-cost production, higher recovery and therefore more economic barrels onto the marketplace," Woods told analysts after reporting fourth-quarter results. "That's the opportunity set for us that will play out, maybe, over time."
While Woods has said that there needs to be clarity around fiscal and legal terms before ExxonMobil would be prepared to return to Venezuela, he said the Trump administration is taking the right approach to tackling these challenges and that they will get resolved over time.
"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," he said. "These are the right objectives."
Woods reiterated an offer to send a technical team to Venezuela to make an assessment of the current status of the energy sector and then offer up its perspective to the administration. "We're still committed to doing that," he said.
