The CEO of Repsol, Josu Jon Imaz, has conveyed to the White House the company’s commitment to investing in the oil sector in Venezuela. “We are ready to invest more in Venezuela and triple production there in the next two or three years,” said the Spanish executive, at the meeting organized by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to debate the role of the sector in the reconstruction of the energy industry in Venezuela after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro by the United States.
In his brief intervention, Imaz has highlighted, on the one hand, its presence in the US market and, on the other, its willingness to significantly expand its role in Venezuela. “We are a Spanish company, but we are totally committed to investing in the United States. Over the last 15 years, we have invested $21 billion in the American oil and gas industry,” Imaz began.
“We are in and we produce the gas that guarantees the stability of half of the Venezuelan electrical grid. So we are committed to this stability. We have personnel, facilities and technical capabilities. We are ready to invest more in Venezuela today. We are producing 45,000 gross barrels per day, and we are ready to triple this figure in the next two or three years, investing heavily in the country,” the executive added, addressing Trump.
The Venezuelan market, with the largest crude oil reserves in the world, presents an intriguing opportunity for major oil companies, although it also poses enormous challenges. The energy infrastructure of the Caribbean country has been deteriorating for years due to lack of investment and management, and the revocation of licenses and permits by the US Administration has complicated the operations of international companies present there.
Giants in the sector such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and other key players also participated in today’s meeting, and the conditions for a return or increase in private activity in Venezuela were explored, whose potential is enormous, but is loaded with uncertainties. Some managers publicly expressed concern about the political and legal risks involved in committing such large capital without structured guarantees, in a country that has expropriated assets in the past.
Trump’s plans after Maduro’s arrest involve a revitalization of the Venezuelan oil industry supported almost exclusively by private capital. The US president has urged major oil companies to do so without direct contributions of public funds, but with Washington’s commitment to offer legal security, political protection and support to companies entering the country. The objective is to recover the production of one of the largest crude oil reserves in the world. But also reinforce US control over the flow and marketing of Venezuelan oil, with a direct impact on energy prices and the balance of the international market.
