As President 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, the Washington Post reports.

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.

President Trump told Sean Hannity last night that the major oil companies have pledged to invest $100 billion in improving Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, but an industry insider told CNN: “We have no idea where this $100 billion figure is coming from.”

“President Trump’s declaration that he would personally control the proceeds from oil produced in Venezuela drew instant condemnation on Wednesday from Democrats in Congress who noted that the president had no constitutional authority for such an undertaking,” the New York Times reports.

“While the administration’s plans for handling what could be billions of dollars of revenue from oil sales are still taking shape, Mr. Trump announced on Tuesday that he intended to determine how the money is distributed.”

“Forget talk about elections and democracy in Venezuela. The Trump administration has a simple goal there: Back a pro-U.S. government — and prop it up with millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil,” Axios reports.

“The plan hinges on the U.S. taking de facto control of oil production in Venezuela, which has the largest crude reserves in the world but has been crippled by the twin forces of kleptocracy and U.S. sanctions.”

“Such a raw exercise of U.S. imperial force hasn’t been seen in modern times. It became clear Saturday with the seizure of Venezuela’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, for alleged drug trafficking.”

Washington Post: Oil companies in talks with White House on how to drill in Venezuela.

“President Donald Trump said Venezuela will give the U.S. between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil after his administration captured the country’s president and began pressuring the new leadership,” USA Today reports.

Said Trump: “This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!”

“Venezuelan and U.S. officials are discussing exporting Venezuelan crude to refiners in the United States,” Reuters reports.

“Venezuela has millions of barrels of oil loaded on tankers and in storage tanks that it has been unable to ship due to a blockade on exports imposed by President Donald Trump since mid-December.” 

“Even before American forces blasted their way into Venezuela’s capital and seized President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, the nation was already facing dire economic prospects,” the New York Times reports.

“The partial blockade imposed by the United States on Venezuela’s energy exports was expected to shutter more than 70 percent of the country’s oil production this year and wipe out its dominant source of public revenue, according to people briefed on Venezuela’s internal projections compiled in December.”

“Nobody knows exactly how much it will cost to rebuild Venezuela’s broken-down oilfields, but everyone agrees it’s a lot — and there’s no guarantee that U.S. companies will be chomping at the bit,” Axios reports.

“Venezuela’s crude output has dwindled to well under one million barrels per day after years of underinvestment, mismanagement, and sanctions — a far cry from around 3.5 mbd in the late 1990s.”

Wall Street Journal: “President Trump had a vague but tantalizing message for a couple of American oil executives roughly a month before the U.S. captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro: ‘Get ready.’”

“Big changes were coming to Venezuela, Trump hinted.”

“Although Trump gave the executives a hint, he did not provide them with specific details of the strikes on Caracas that unfolded early Saturday, according to people familiar with the matter. Nor did he seek their advice on a plan unveiled the same day to have U.S. energy companies revitalize Venezuela’s dilapidated oil fields with multibillion-dollar investments.”

“President Trump’s vision of American oil companies rebuilding Venezuela’s broken petro-sector creates his biggest test yet of the U.S. industry’s tolerance for risk,” Axios reports.

“Trump and other administration officials haven’t been subtle about calling Venezuela’s massive oil reserves a key reason for toppling President Nicolás Maduro.”

Said Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “You cannot continue to have the largest oil reserves in the world under the control of adversaries of the United States … but not benefiting the people of that country.”