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TotalEnergies CEO Echoes Exxon’s Caution on Venezuela Oil
Exxon's Darren Woods Angered Trump After Meeting
Reviving Venezuela’s oil industry will take years and cost billions of dollars, limiting the country’s impact on global markets in 2026, according to TotalEnergies SE boss Patrick Pouyanne.
President Donald Trump is exhorting American oil firms to return to the South American country and ramp up production, after deposing Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro. Still, producers have raised concerns about jumping back into Venezuela with Pouyanne’s counterpart at Exxon Mobil Corp. saying the country is currently “uninvestable.”
The comment by Darren Woods invited Trump’s wrath on Exxon, even as other oil executives echoed his caution. TotalEnergies CEO Pouyanne said it would take years to increase Venezuela’s oil output to above 3 million barrels a day from less than 1 million currently.
“I know that people want to rush there but I can understand that it will require a clear framework to be able to invest there and it will take time,” Pouyanne said at a conference in Abu Dhabi. “Maybe you could easily add 100,000 to 200,000 barrels a day, but if you think about 1 million barrels of oil a day, it will require $100 billion.”
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Venezuela’s output has fluctuated at levels most recently around nearly 1 million barrels per day, well below the 1970s peak of close to 4 million barrels. A resurgence would require companies to rebuild or replace abandoned rigs, leaky pipelines and fire-ravaged equipment. Oil executives also want legal frameworks and guarantees for their investments and security of their employees.
Pouyanne doubted whether Venezuela would be significant for the oil market this year.
“I’m not convinced it will have a direct impact on the market in ‘26,” Pouyanne said. “The truth is, it’s not high on my agenda.”
TotalEnergies and Exxon are among western firms that had to leave the country after the Venezuelan administration of Hugo Chavez took over their assets and operations. Chevron Corp. is the only oil firm still working there, under special permission that exempts it from the risk of sanctions.
