A Kidnapping and a $12 Billion Battle Hang Over a Conoco Return to Venezuela

The man in charge of Conoco’s Venezuela operations looked up to see a gun pointed at his driver’s head. 

It was early 2002 and Roger Ramshaw and his wife had just landed at the airport in Caracas. Within seconds of entering their private car, the couple was kidnapped and a masked gunman ordered Ramshaw to take him to their apartment so he could steal their cash—or else.

“It’s one of these traumatic experiences,” Ramshaw said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “It takes a while to get over it.”

As Houston-based ConocoPhillips COP -0.75%decrease; red down pointing triangle ponders President Trump’s demand that U.S. oil-and-gas producers invest at least $100 billion in Venezuela, it has a tumultuous history to draw on.