King Canute Was Mocking His Supporters

Trump has no idea how business is actually done.

Trump convened about 20 industry representatives Friday in the East Room and asked them to agree to take part in reinvigorating the country's oil industry, saying he had at least 25 other people that would gladly take their places. But Woods spoke up with his concerns about the plan.

“If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela today, it’s uninvestable,” Woods said.

“How durable are the protections from a financial standpoint?" the CEO added. "What will the returns look like? What are the commercial arrangements, the legal frameworks? All those things have to be put in place in order to make a decision to understand what your return would be over the next several decades.”

And how much longer will Trump be in office and “running” Venezuela? BTW, is State still telling Americans there that it can’t protect them?

And what Exxon said there is “all those things” have to be put in place BEFORE Exxon can even assess any possible investment. That’s how businesses function. Trump doesn’t understand that.

Trump was infuriated by the oil executive's candor and told reporters Sunday evening he "didn't like" his remarks and threatened to keep Exxon out of Venezuela.

“They’re playing too cute," Trump groused.

But rebuilding Venezuela's oil infrastructure is financially risky and politically fraught, and executives agree it could fail to recoup their billions of dollars in investment.

“The industry was unified on Friday — with the meeting with the president — that there are going to be certain prerequisites that have to happen before there’s continued investment in Venezuela,” Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute.

Exxon was not speaking for Exxon. Exxon was speaking for the industry. These are business people. Trump is not a business person. That much should be clear by now. 

The majors can’t afford this investment, but they’re the only ones who could. Smaller companies (Citgo, example, which has just been bought out of bankruptcy), can’t begin to make the capital investments necessary. And it would likely destroy them if they tried.

Trump can insist he makes the tides come in, but that won’t make it so.