Madrid (AFP) – Spanish energy group Repsol said on Thursday it has reached an agreement with the Venezuelan government to regain control of its oil business in the country and sharply increase production over the coming years. Repsol’s operations in Venezuela have been sharply limited since 2025 after Washington unilaterally revoked its operating license, a move that also affected other foreign companies in the country.
The deal will allow Repsol to resume operational control of its Petroquiriquire joint venture created to develop and operate oil fields in eastern Venezuela, the company said in a statement. Repsol said it is prepared to increase gross oil production in the country — which currently averages some 45,000 barrels daily — by 50 percent within 12 months and potentially triple output within three years, provided “necessary conditions” are met.
“This agreement underscores Repsol’s commitment to Venezuela, where we have operated continuously since 1993,” the company’s head of exploration and production, Francisco Gea, said in a statement. “We have the assets and the technical, operational, and human capabilities on the ground to increase our production in the country.”
The deal was signed between Repsol, Venezuela’s hydrocarbon ministry, and Venezuela’s state oil and gas firm PDVSA, which owns 60 percent of the Petroquiriquire joint venture. A new bonanza from Venezuela’s vast oil reserves has been touted after the United States captured its socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro in January in a lightning military operation on Caracas.
The new authorities, led by interim president Delcy Rodriguez, have cooperated with US President Donald Trump’s administration and introduced reforms to liberalise the sector. The United States has eased a seven-year-old oil embargo on Venezuela and issued licenses allowing a handful of multinationals including Repsol to operate in the country under certain conditions.
US oil giant Chevron and the government of Venezuela signed two deals on Monday that will expand oil production in the country. The possibility of increased Venezuelan oil output comes as global markets face disruptions to Middle East oil supplies from the conflict in Iran, which have driven up oil prices.
Venezuela sits on the world largest proven oil reserves, and the once-thriving sector helped make it one of Latin America’s wealthiest countries in the 20th century. But production plummeted during two decades of socialist rule, with observers pointing to underinvestment, mismanagement, and corruption, as the country plunged into a protracted political, social, and economic crisis.
Speaking to AFP in Paris in February, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Venezuelan oil production was “a little bit less than a million barrels a day” in January. But output could grow by 30 to 40 percent by the end of 2026 — “that’s a big deal,” he said.
© 2024 AFP
