Venezuelan crude is flooding back into American refineries at levels not seen in nearly a decade, and one oil major has quietly positioned itself to capture more of that surge than any other company on the market.

Exxon Mobil is closing in on a return to Venezuela nearly two decades after Hugo Chavez seized its operations there, and the barrel figures flying around the deal tell very different stories depending on who is counting.

Alejandro Betancourt was previously wanted by authorities in Switzerland as part of a money-laundering investigation

Continental said it undertook an "independent evaluation of opportunities" in Venezuela after President Donald Trump called for the industry to invest.

Recent high-profile deals allowing foreign drillers to tap Venezuela’s vast oil reserves have failed to quell lingering concerns about contract sanctity in a nation with a history of nationalization,

The Trump administration seized control of Venezuelan oil after capturing President Nicolás Maduro in January.

Venezuela holds enormous oil reserves, but much of its crude is so thick it barely moves. Engineers had to solve extreme transport, pipeline, and processing challenges to make one of the world’s hardest oil resources usable.

France’s largest energy company, TotalEnergies, has reportedly moved to invest anew by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for energy cooperation with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company (PDVSA) on the 21st.