U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to sideline Exxon Mobil
from Venezuela’s energy market, saying he didn’t like their response to his calls for oil companies to quickly reenter the South American country.
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response. You know we have so many that want it. I’d probably be inclined to keep Exxon out,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One on Sunday.
“They’re playing too cute,” he added.
His comments come shortly after Exxon CEO Darren Woods made headlines for saying at a White House meeting with Trump that the Venezuelan market is “uninvestable” in its current state.
An Exxon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shares of Exxon were down less than 1% in morning trading Monday.
Speaking alongside several other American oil executives on Friday, Woods said Exxon would need to see “some pretty significant changes” if it was to reenter the country for a third time.
Venezuela seized Exxon’s and ConocoPhillips
’ assets in 2007, and Caracas owes the companies billions of dollars in outstanding claims from arbitration cases.
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