Exxon signed a first paper with Venezuela. Will a real oil deal come this year?
ExxonMobil, the largest US oil company, signed a memorandum with Venezuela on 9 November. The paper covers a study of oil fields.
What happened
Venezuela signed a memorandum of understanding with ExxonMobil in Caracas on , with acting president Delcy Rodríguez present.
On ExxonMobil signed a memorandum of understanding with Venezuela. A memorandum of understanding sets out plans, and it does not bind either side. Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez and Dan Ammann, who runs Exxon’s oil and gas production, were at the signing in Caracas. Ammann called it an important first step in a process that he hopes will bring the company back.
On Venezuela’s oil ministry wrote that the paper covers the study of chances in old fields and new projects. It named no oil field and no date for a contract. Until a binding deal is signed, Exxon has no right to pump oil in Venezuela.
El instrumento contempla la evaluación de oportunidades tanto en campos maduros como en nuevos desarrollos, en áreas con importantes reservas petroleras.
Venezuela Ministry of Hydrocarbons on the ExxonMobil memorandum,
In 2007 Exxon left Venezuela, after the government of Hugo Chávez took over the last oil fields run by private companies. Court rulings say Venezuela owes Exxon and ConocoPhillips, another US oil company, more than $13bn together. In January Exxon’s chief executive Darren Woods called Venezuela “uninvestable”, meaning not safe for investment, and asked for new laws and lasting protection for investors.
On US forces captured President Nicolás Maduro. Days later Donald Trump told the heads of US oil companies that his government would decide which companies could work in Venezuela, and said he would probably keep Exxon out. On he said “We have Exxon going in”. Rodríguez now says she wants the Exxon paper to become concrete agreements quickly.
Sources: El País, The New York Times, Venezuela Ministry of Hydrocarbons, The Guardian, PBS NewsHour
The Pattern
We looked for cases where an energy company signed a non-binding paper with a government about future access to its oil or gas, while a big foreign power pushed its own companies to invest there and decided who could go in. We found five such papers, all in Venezuela in 2026, two of them signed by BP. (Venezuela Ministry of Hydrocarbons; bp; Repsol; El País; Continental Resources; Venezuela Ministry of Hydrocarbons; The Guardian)
Show the other 3 cases
The Read
In five past papers with Venezuela this year, none became a binding deal within 52 days. BP got its gas licence 106 days after its paper. Continental Resources said in September that a contract would come in the coming weeks, and 55 days later none had been reported. Counting three more 2026 agreements that were not called memorandums, three of eight led to a contract or licence, and none of them within 52 days, as far as the dates show. Rodríguez wants speed, while Exxon calls its paper a first step.
There are reasons for doubt. All five papers were signed in Venezuela this year with the same government, and four were still waiting for a deal on , so the picture can change any week. The one deal that came was for gas, while this question counts only crude oil. Exxon is also different from those four companies: it is coming back after Venezuela took its assets, and Venezuela still owes it money.
Sources: bp, Continental Resources, Venezuela Ministry of Hydrocarbons, Eni, El País English, El País, The Guardian
Disclaimer
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