Shitstain Wants $50/Barrel Oil. He Also Wants Increased Oil Production. More Economic Genius Below.

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As President Donald Trump pushed U.S. oil companies to commit to invest $100 billion in Venezuela at a White House meeting on Friday, the CEO of ExxonMobil warned the company is far from enlisting. CEO Darren Woods said that Venezuela is “uninvestable” after Trump asked him how long it would take the firm to restart operations there. He added that “significant changes have to be made to those commercial frameworks, the legal system, there has to be durable investment protections,” and there needs to be a rewrite of the laws governing oil production in Venezuela. He would only commit to sending a technical team to the country shortly to begin assessing the situation. The exchange underscored how the industry is struggling to chart a course that will please the president without spending recklessly on risky drilling ventures.

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For the White House, it all underscores the tension of its competing goals: lower prices at the pump as much as possible while also pushing oil companies to drill more at home and abroad. The problem is that driving prices down by flooding the market with more oil takes away the financial viability of expanded drilling. “The administration is talking out of both sides of its mouth in saying they want prices down to $50 a barrel and expanded production,” said Morgan Downey, a commodities trader and the author of the book “Oil 101.” “You can’t have both. It does not make sense. It is pure politics.”

He said industry executives eager to stay on the good side of the White House have to publicly “smile and tell the president, ‘yes, you are making great decisions.’ But the numbers don’t add up.” He is skeptical there will be much of any new production in Venezuela by U.S. firms absent drastic shifts in market prices. The administration’s actions have focused on the oil Venezuela has already pumped and could produce itself in the foreseeable future. Trump announced early this week that 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil will be routed to the U.S., where it will be refined and sold into the market. It is a relatively small amount of crude, the equivalent of what is produced by U.S. drillers over a few days. Administration officials said any oil Venezuela pumps will also be sent to U.S. refineries.

The arrangement irks companies drilling wells in places such as West Texas and North Dakota. Edwards said that instead of refining the Venezuelan oil and selling into the market, the administration should just ship it directly to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was drawn down by the Biden administration to stabilize soaring gas prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/01/09/trump-oil-executives-venezuela-exxon/

https://wapo.st/3LG1Xm5