Tag Archives: Tom O’Donnell interviews

My Newsweek| I counter Exxon CEO Darren Wood’s WH drama that “Venezuela is uninvestable.” And more commentary.

Oil Bosses Hit Trump With Venezuela Setback: ‘Uninvestable’

Image from 2002 shows an oil refinery in Maracaibo, Vzla. Photo ANDREW ALVAREZ

Published Jan 10, 2026 – By, Brendan Cole, Senior News Reporter

Developing Venezuela’s oil industry  following the removal of its leader, Nicolas Maduro,  would require major legal and commercial changes, Exxon CEO Darren Woods has told President Donald Trump

Woods gave a downbeat assessment of the viability of restoring oil production in the South American country believed to hold the world’s largest reserves, telling Trump that at the moment, the country’s industry was “uninvestable.”

Energy industry analyst, Thomas O’Donnell, told Newsweek on Saturday that one approach would be for companies to work on small projects to kickstart production before targeting the oil fields that require heavy investment.   

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Oil Bosses Hit Trump With Venezuela Setback: ‘Uninvestable’

Image from 2002 shows an oil refinery in Maracaibo, Vzla. Photo ANDREW ALVAREZ

Published Jan 10, 2026 – By, Brendan Cole, Senior News Reporter

Developing Venezuela’s oil industry  following the removal of its leader, Nicolas Maduro,  would require major legal and commercial changes, Exxon CEO Darren Woods has told President Donald Trump

Woods gave a downbeat assessment of the viability of restoring oil production in the South American country believed to hold the world’s largest reserves, telling Trump that at the moment, the country’s industry was “uninvestable.”

Energy industry analyst, Thomas O’Donnell, told Newsweek on Saturday that one approach would be for companies to work on small projects to kickstart production before targeting the oil fields that require heavy investment.   

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Analysis: The USA & China each have failings preparing for a trade war (from Poznan)

Xi Jinping has still not built China’s domestic market to escape its trade-war vulnerabilities from over-dependence on exports, a weakness he openly discussed back in February 2012 on his USA tour before becoming premier.

For the USA, Trump had apparently planned to have resolved the Ukraine war and in some way undermined the Russia-China alliance, inducing Russia to move closer to the USA before going after China. But, ending the war has proven far more difficult than he anticipated. His lack of success with Russia will weigh on his ability to negotiate from a position of strength with all the countries he is competing to win away from China’s geoeconomics orbit such as India, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand and etc. — the states that Treasury Secretary would say are in the “yellow zone” as opposed to the USA#s closest allies such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, in the so-called “green zone.” For details – see this post on my blog,

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