President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted US oil companies spend more than $100 billion in Venezuela to dramatically rebuild its crumbling infrastructure since leader Nicolás Maduro was forced from power. But Exxon chairman and CEO Darren Woods drew Trump’s ire earlier this month when he told the president that Venezuela currently “do not invest” until major reforms implemented, and the country saw real stability. After all, Exxon had oil assets acquired in Venezuela less than 20 years ago.

Trump later said Woods The comments are “so cute”. and that he may be inclined to keep the world’s biggest Big Oil player out of Venezuela.

Woods said January 30 in his fourth quarter earnings call that he believes the Trump administration is committed to making the necessary changes to finally make Venezuela a viable investment option. How quickly remains to be seen. The country’s National Assembly began approving reforms to its oil and gas laws on January 29.

“Venezuela has the challenges I mentioned, which I believe will be addressed in time,” Woods said, arguing that another challenge is the high cost of extracting and processing Venezuela’s heavier grades of tar-like crude.

He said Exxon already has the expertise to develop heavy oil sands in Canada that can translate.

“We think that we will bring an advantageous method that leads to lower production costs, higher recovery and, therefore, more economic barrels to the market. That I think is the opportunity set that will play out over time,” said Woods, adding that Exxon is still committed to sending a small technical team to Venezuela to assess the situation in the near term.

Chevron, on the other hand, is the only US company that currently produces oil in Venezuela thanks to a special license. Chevron pumps out about 250,000 barrels a day of oil—about a quarter of Venezuela’s roughly 1 million barrels of daily output.

Chevron’s chairman and CEO Mike Wirth reiterated that it could increase its oil flow by 50% in less than two years, but that would only mean raising Venezuela’s total output to more than 1.1 million barrels for a country—with the largest proven oil reserves in the world—that peaked decades ago with an output of nearly 4 million barrels.

Remarkably, Wirth said Chevron’s Venezuelan operation is self-financed through joint ventures with state oil company PDVSA, and there are no current plans to add additional capital spending.

“I think it’s a little early to say what our longer-term outlook is,” Wirth said on his earnings call. “You have to expect us to stay focused on value and capital discipline. This is a great resource that has the chance to become a bigger part of our portfolio in the future, but we also have to see the stability of the country. We have to have confidence in the fiscal regime.”

Wirth said Chevron is reviewing the new hydrocarbons law that has been tentatively approved and that there are a “number of signposts” that Chevron is monitoring.

“Like anywhere we invest, the financial terms, stability, the predictability of the regulation are important. So it must compete with our portfolio against attractive investments in many other parts of the world,” added Wirth. “With the right changes, we will definitely see our operations and the footprint expand in Venezuela. And we are working with the US government and the Venezuelan government to try to create the conditions that will enable that.”

Income beats

Exxon and Chevron have both posted quarterly earnings beats, but both are also facing a decline in revenue mainly from the drop in crude oil prices – the same low prices that make Venezuelan investments more challenging at the moment.

Despite the weak commodity environment, Chevron reported the largest oil and gas production volume in its history, while Exxon reported the largest output in more than 40 years.

Exxon stock fell a little more than 1%, while Chevron stock rose more than 1%.

More than half of Exxon’s production comes from the ever-growing Permian Basin in West Texas and rapidly increasing output from offshore Guyana, which borders Venezuela. Chevron, which is the second largest producer in the Permian after Exxon, became Exxon’s main partner in Guyana after closing its $53 billion acquisition. Hess last year.

Woods said Exxon is awaiting an International Court of Justice arbitration ruling under a dispute over the boundary of international waters between Guyana and Venezuela. A favorable decision could open up more offshore exploration for Exxon and Chevon.

“Obviously, with the developments in Venezuela, maybe we will see an opportunity with small naval patrols to make it a little more friendly environment,” Wood said, adding that he is optimistic. “We have an opportunity to do what we need to do with that part of the (exploration) block if it works for us.”

Exxon reported fourth-quarter earnings of $6.5 billion, down 15% year-over-year from $7.6 billion. Full-year 2025 revenue came in at $28.8 billion, down 14% from $33.7 billion in 2024.

Chevron reported quarterly earnings of nearly $2.8 billion, down year-over-year nearly 15% from more than $3.2 billion. Full-year profit was $12.3 billion, down 30% from $17.7 a year ago.