Energy is at the heart of everything we do, and now the U.S. access to a huge petroleum resource may be one step closer.
A major oil company, with a history of working in Venezuela in the pre-Maduro years, is eying a move back into that troubled country. On Tuesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright took to his official X account to announce a potential deal between Venezuela and energy giant ExxonMobil.
ExxonMobil’s preliminary agreement to return to Venezuela is a testament to President Trump’s leadership. A country deemed “uninvestable” earlier this year is already attracting significant commitment from one of the world’s largest energy companies. Tremendous progress in a remarkably short time. https://t.co/dPD4WAyh3e
— Secretary Chris Wright (@SecretaryWright) November 10, 2026
ExxonMobil’s preliminary agreement to return to Venezuela is a testament to President Trump’s leadership.
A country deemed “uninvestable” earlier this year is already attracting significant commitment from one of the world’s largest energy companies.
Tremendous progress in a remarkably short time.
The New York Times reports:
Exxon Mobil, the biggest U.S. oil company, said on Monday that it reached a preliminary deal with Venezuela that brings it a step closer to returning to the South American country.
The agreement gives Exxon time to evaluate oil production opportunities, and is not binding — stipulations similar to those in other agreements struck by U.S. oil companies this year as they consider investing in Venezuela.
Nevertheless, it is a symbolic win for President Trump, who has been pressing U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela. It also represents a normalization of relations between Exxon and Caracas, which deteriorated after the country’s socialist government in 2007 changed the terms under which foreign oil companies operated there. Exxon left rather than accept the new rules, and has long sought compensation for the assets it relinquished.
Mind you, what's been signed is only a "memorandum of understanding," but it's a first step, at any rate. Venezuela is a key energy supplier; they are sitting on the world's largest reservoirs of petroleum, although Venezuelan crude is heavier and harder to process than the "light, sweet" crude from places like Saudi Arabia. But many of America's Gulf of America refineries were built specifically to process Venezuelan crude.
This deal still has a way to go before ExxonMobil starts work in Venezuela, and it would be prudent of the company to await the outcome of Venezuela's next general election before getting too deeply involved; the current government still has a lot of Maduro holdovers and the "interim" president herself, Delcy Rodriguez, is a Maduro creature, having been his vice president before he was snatched away by American special operations forces to stand trial in the United States. But this, at least, is a start, and if any companies are going to have access to these huge reserves, it may as well be the United States.
Increased development of Venezuela's resources isn't just good for us, either. This will have a positive impact on global oil prices, and that's something the entire world could use right now.
As of this writing, the U.S. oil commodity price (USOIL) was at $86.76/barrel, while UK Brent (UKOIL) was at $92.00/barrel.
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