Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez led the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and ExxonMobil on Monday, November 9, opening a new stage in negotiations over the US corporation’s possible return to Venezuela.PDVSA President Héctor Obregón and ExxonMobil Executive Director for Venezuela Andrés Acosta signed the document. ExxonMobil Upstream President Dan Ammann and US Chargé d’Affaires John Barrett attended the event.The ceremony marked a preliminary step for a possible resumption of ExxonMobil operations in Venezuela.What the memorandum coversActing President Rodríguez said negotiations had taken place over several months and that the MoU covers both brownfield sites already in production and greenfield areas not yet developed, with reserves she described as amounting to billions of barrels.Mainstream media reported in September, citing people familiar with the negotiations, that ExxonMobil was interested in returning to Petromonagas in the Orinoco Belt, formerly known as Cerro Negro, and to areas of the neighboring Carabobo block. ExxonMobil’s November 9 report said the MoU did not specify which fields or projects Exxon would evaluate.Acting President Rodríguez claimed that ExxonMobil could contribute technology and investment, while Venezuela would provide its oil resources and experienced workforce. She expressed hope that the memorandum would soon lead to concrete agreements and benefits for national development.Oil Minister Paula Henao described the signing as an important development for both countries. She noted the Orinoco Belt’s wealth of heavy and extra-heavy crude and said the work would combine international industry practices with Venezuelan expertise.Ammann called the MoU a first step, saying ExxonMobil’s capabilities and Venezuela’s resources and long history of oil and gas production could benefit all parties. He also said further work remained.ExxonMobil’s exit and the legal disputeExxonMobil halted operations in Venezuela following the 2007 restructuring of major oil projects by the administration of Hugo Chávez. This restructuring gave PDVSA majority control of shared petroleum operations.ExxonMobil refused to participate in the new legal framework, distancing itself from the majority of oil corporations that were operating in partnership with Venezuela at that time. Venezuelan authorities took over operations of the Cerro Negro project, and ExxonMobil affiliates then pursued international arbitration for up to US $10 billion over the projects.The legal history involves claims and awards of different amounts. In 2014, an ICSID tribunal issued an award of about US $1.6 billion, part of which was later annulled. A new award in 2023 ordered Venezuela to pay about US $985.5 million plus interest, fees, and costs. A US appeals court affirmed its enforcement in April 2026.The MoU makes no reference to the arbitration, the unpaid award, or how the parties’ legal dispute would affect any future investment.Oil reform and the January 3 attackThe negotiations unfolded after the US military attack on Venezuela on January 3, during which US forces abducted Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. The US bombing campaign and special forces attack killed more than 100 people, including 47 Venezuelan soldiers and 32 Cuban combatants.On January 29, Venezuela’s National Assembly approved a reform of the Organic Hydrocarbons Law. The changes incorporated productive participation contracts, previously used under the Anti-Blockade Law, and revised the fiscal framework for oil projects, providing greater benefits to corporations. The reform set royalties of up to 30% and an integrated hydrocarbons tax of up to 15% on gross revenue, while changing or removing other levies.The MoU’s timing places ExxonMobil’s possible return within a broader reorganization of Venezuela’s oil sector after the US attack and the law’s expansion of contractual openings for private and foreign companies. The agreement leaves open how future projects will balance state control, investment terms, workers’ interests, and the use of oil revenues for national development.Mainstream coverage of a January 9 White House meeting between US officials, including Donald Trump, reported that ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said Venezuela was “uninvestable” under the existing legal and commercial framework and that substantial changes would be needed before the company could invest.ExxonMobil, Guyana, and the Essequibo disputeExxonMobil is also a leading operator in Guyana’s expanding oil industry. Venezuelan officials have accused the company of backing Guyana’s effort to bring the Essequibo territorial dispute before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a process contravening the 1966 Geneva Agreement regarding the disputed territory.Guyana’s government stated in 2017 that it received a US $18 million signing bonus from ExxonMobil and that it had earmarked US $15 million of it for legal costs related to the ICJ strategy in the legal dispute over Essequibo.Venezuela’s Vice President: ExxonMobil Promotes Fascist Plan Against VenezuelaThe ICJ has ruled that it has the jurisdiction to hear the dispute despite Venezuela’s rejection of its ruling; the case remains unresolved and is expected to advance in early 2027.ExxonMobil’s parallel negotiations with Venezuela and major role in Guyana’s oil sector make the implications of the MoU for the territorial dispute a question to monitor. Special for Orinoco Tribune by staffOT/JRE/SL