Key facts
- Exxon has exclusive rights for one year to negotiate contract terms and view subsurface and other data, one person said.
- The areas under evaluation include several heavy oil blocks in the Orinoco Belt, including Petromonagas, where Exxon operated before its assets were expropriated in 2007.
- Exxon is also assessing three additional Orinoco areas with developed and undeveloped fields and negotiating exploration rights at a separate block, two sources said.
- Russia's participation at Petromonagas and Petrovictoria remains an open question; Rosneft's 40% Petromonagas stake was transferred to Roszarubezhneft in 2020.
- Exxon declined to comment beyond its November 9 statement; Venezuela's oil ministry and PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
- US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on social media that the agreement was tremendous progress in a remarkable short time.
ExxonMobil is evaluating seven areas in Venezuela for possible energy projects under a preliminary, non-binding agreement with the Venezuelan government and state oil company PDVSA, four people close to the matter said. The memorandum was signed in Caracas on November 9, 2026, in the presence of interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez.
The areas include undeveloped fields, mature areas and an exploration block, the sources said. Exxon has exclusive rights for one year to negotiate contract terms and view subsurface and other data for the fields, one of the people said. The arrangement is similar to ones other foreign companies have negotiated in 2026 for entry into the country's energy sector.
Exxon declined to comment beyond a statement issued on November 9 that called the memorandum a "meaningful first step." Venezuela's oil ministry and PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comment. The statement also said any future investment would require stable policies, clear regulations, strong investment protections and competitive returns.
Venezuela had offered Exxon a different mix of areas earlier in 2026, which the company rejected. Discussions have since focused mainly on several heavy oil blocks in the Orinoco Belt, the country's largest output region, including Petromonagas, previously called Cerro Negro, where Exxon operated before its assets were expropriated in 2007. Petromonagas is one of the few projects with an operational upgrader to turn extra-heavy crude into exportable grades. Exxon is also assessing three additional Orinoco areas with developed and undeveloped fields and is negotiating exploration rights at a separate block, two of the sources said.
Russia's participation at Petromonagas and Petrovictoria remains an open question. Rosneft acquired a 40% stake in Petromonagas after the expropriation, and the stake was transferred in 2020 to Roszarubezhneft, a Russian state firm created to shield Moscow's overseas assets from US sanctions. Russia's government has said publicly that the company remains a stakeholder in those and other oil and gas projects in the OPEC country. Henao said in 2026 that the government fully respected its agreements with Russia and China and that joint ventures in which they hold stakes would continue to operate. Exxon has not publicly disclosed its areas of interest or referred to Russia's stakes.
Exxon leads the consortium developing Guyana's Stabroek block and is the sole rights holder to a large deepwater exploration area in Trinidad and Tobago, which the sources said could allow efficiencies if Exxon re-enters Venezuela. CEO Darren Woods called Venezuela "uninvestable" at a White House meeting in January 2026, shortly after US forces removed then-President Nicolas Maduro from power. Woods said during the company's third-quarter earnings call that progress had been made to improve fiscal and legal terms following an oil reform pushed by Rodriguez.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on social media that the preliminary agreement was "tremendous progress in a remarkable short time."