ExxonMobil Signs Pact to Assess Venezuela Oil Exploration Prospects

ExxonMobil signed a memorandum of understanding Monday with Venezuela’s government and state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), to assess oil exploration and production opportunities in a country the company left in 2007. The pact starts an evaluation, with no investment commitment announced.

The memorandum covers potential “upstream” activity, meaning oil exploration and production. ExxonMobil called it “a meaningful first step.” ExxonMobil said further investment would depend on predictable government policy, clear rules, investor safeguards and returns that meet its requirements. Memorandums of understanding are typically nonbinding.

Venezuela revised its petroleum law this year, giving private oil companies more operational control in partnerships and changing tax and royalty rules. The changes came as the country sought to attract international oil companies.

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods had described Venezuela as “uninvestable” at a White House meeting earlier this year. In October, Woods said work on fiscal and legal rules and investor protections was underway, but that more work remained. ExxonMobil’s new agreement follows Woods’ earlier explanation of the conditions for a Venezuela project.

ExxonMobil operated in Venezuela for much of the 20th century. Starting in 2004, the Chávez government renegotiated agreements with foreign oil producers and moved ExxonMobil’s assets into state ownership. The company left Venezuela in 2007 and has since been in international arbitration with the government. In September 2025, a U.S. court ordered Venezuela to pay ExxonMobil more than $985 million for past expropriations.