Following Maduro's kidnapping, Exxon demands economic reforms before returning to Venezuela.

247 - Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said the US oil giant is ready to consider a possible return to Venezuela, a move that would be surprising nearly 20 years after its assets in the South American country were nationalized by the Bolivarian authorities. The statements were made on Friday (9), during a meeting at the White House with US President Donald Trump, hastily arranged less than a week after the US invasion of Caracas and the international kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, who were taken to New York, USA. 

Negotiations between Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and U.S. authorities for the sale of Venezuelan crude oil are still ongoing, but the first shipment of Venezuelan crude oil stolen by the U.S. was already sent to Venezuela on Friday as part of the talks, PDVSA announced in a statement Friday night. 

However, Woods said that Venezuela is currently “uninvestable” and advocated for the implementation of neoliberal policies. “It is absolutely fundamental, in the short term, that we get a technical team into the country to assess the current state of industry and assets, to understand what will be needed to help the people of Venezuela get production back on the market,” Woods said, adding that the visit could take place as soon as adequate security guarantees were in place. The statements were reported by Reuters.

He told Trump that Exxon needs the introduction of what he called "lasting investment protections" and that the country's hydrocarbon law also "needs" to be reformed, according to Reuters. "We've already had our assets seized there twice. So it's possible to imagine that returning a third time would require quite significant changes from what we've seen historically and what the current situation is," the executive said.

The coup serves Exxon's interests.

Last week, at a UN Security Council meeting, Venezuela's ambassador to the UN, Samuel Reinaldo Moncada Acosta, stated that Washington was threatening Caracas to appease large oil corporations such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. 

"The United States government is threatening an armed attack against Venezuela to satisfy the large oil corporations, particularly ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, which are pioneers in stealing Venezuelan oil," said Moncada. 

At the time, the ambassador criticized Washington for its dependence on oil and described the most recent actions of the US as "blood for oil".

On January 3, the United States launched a large-scale attack against Venezuela, kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and taking them to New York. US President Donald Trump announced that Maduro and Flores would face trial for alleged involvement in “narco-terrorism” and for posing a threat, including to the United States. Caracas requested an emergency UN meeting in response to the US operation. The Venezuelan Supreme Court temporarily transferred the functions of head of state to Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who was officially sworn in as acting president before the National Assembly on January 5.