MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuela signs a memorandum with ExxonMobil for the oil major’s return after leaving in 2007

The signing took place in Caracas in the presence of acting President Delcy Rodríguez and ExxonMobil Upstream President Dan Ammann

Venezuela on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with US oil company ExxonMobil with a view to its return to the country, which it left in 2007 after the nationalisation of the last privately held oilfields under Hugo Chávez’s government. The document is not a contract, and no investment figures or timelines have been disclosed.º

The signing took place in Caracas in the presence of acting President Delcy Rodríguez and ExxonMobil Upstream President Dan Ammann. Rodríguez called it a “very important signing”, reached after “months of negotiations for an effective return” of the Houston-based company. She said the memorandum covers “brownfield and greenfield” fields, that is, those already producing and those yet to be developed, with “billions of barrels of reserves”, and said ExxonMobil has “the capacity, technology and investment needed”. She also expressed hope that it would “very soon translate into concrete agreements”.

Ammann said the memorandum is “an important first step” in a process he hopes will lead to the company’s return. “We believe our unique capabilities, combined with this country’s extraordinary resources and Venezuela’s long history in oil and gas production, will bring significant benefits to all parties involved,” he said.

The rapprochement contrasts with Rodríguez’s position a little over a year ago. In March 2025, when she was Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, she accused ExxonMobil of “conspiring against Venezuela for more than a decade” to undermine its territorial integrity and take its resources.

Since Maduro’s removal from power following the US military operation on January 3, President Donald Trump has urged US energy companies to invest in Venezuela. In April, Rodríguez reported meetings with ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, among other companies, after a reform of the hydrocarbons law opened the sector to private and foreign investment.