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Caribbean-Latin America

The Lucky List: Who Are European Oil Workers Working For in Venezuela?

2026-06-25

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Olga Kuznetsova

[REGNUM.RU] In recent days, economic commentators in the US have been practically constantly mentioning Venezuela, where a veritable "oil rush" has begun. Every day brings news of new cooperation or relaxations in this area.

One of these is the signing of an agreement with the Spanish energy company Repsol, which intends to explore new oil reserves on the southeastern coast of Lake Maracaibo.

It would seem a logical move: in the past few months, Venezuela has managed to replace not only key management figures but also completely revise its approach to business matters. Following the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro, the country's key industry is forced to quickly shift from a survival strategy to rebuilding its own industry as quickly as possible.

And the Repsol project will contribute to both—both increasing oil production and fulfilling a media goal, proving to investors that the region can be entered without fear of losing everything, as already happened when Hugo Chávez came to power.

But whose interests do the Spanish oil producers serve? Will they create the competitive environment the Bolivarian Republic so desperately needs, or will they become a weapon of Uncle Sam, who still looms large over official Caracas? For now, the latter option seems more realistic.

HEART OF VENEZUELA
The oil and gas fields around Lake Maracaibo and the Orinoco River belt are often called the heart of Venezuela. This comparison is no coincidence. This is where the country's key fields are located, including those where foreigners worked, even during the harshest sanctions.

Companies partially owned by Chevron have been more comfortable than many others, but China Concord Resources Corp. also has facilities on Lake Maracaibo.

During Maduro's rule, threats of provocations, terrorist attacks, and foreign invasions in Maracaibo were the main triggers used by both Venezuelan security forces and the American elite.

The former constantly carried out forceful measures there and accused the opposition of preparing terrorist attacks on foreign sites, while the latter exploited the slightest difficulties among businessmen in propaganda or in the internal struggle of the American oil tycoons.

What does the Spanish company Repsol's entry into this field mean? Let's start with the fact that "entry" is too strong a word. The corporation had been working with the Venezuelan government since 1993, but was forced to retreat into the shadows after Donald Trump revoked the licenses of all Western companies operating in the country in 2025.

A closer look at the agreement reveals other nuances. In the document, the parties expressed an interest in producing light oil—the kind that can be brought to market and sold almost immediately.

Other areas of cooperation have also been announced, such as electricity, a sore point for the entire Maracaibo region. Power outages have long been a source of discontent among the local population and fueled protests. Therefore, work in this area will add credibility to the new authorities.

The approximate timeframe for cooperation has also been announced—until 2050. For a business surviving in constant instability, that's practically an eternity.

WHO WAS ALLOWED TO WORK?
Repsol representatives began negotiations with the team of acting President Delcy Rodríguez almost immediately after the kidnapping of President Maduro and the change in Caracas's rhetoric.

However, these meetings were only officially confirmed after amendments to local legislation were approved, granting private companies the right to manage oil projects. The interim authorities also outlined the total expected investment volume—$1.4 billion for 2026 alone. They also made it clear that foreign businessmen were not at risk of further nationalization.

In February, Repsol and their French colleagues from Maurel & Prom met with Rodriguez and expressed their willingness to cooperate. A couple of weeks after the talks, the US government intervened: five oil companies were given back their licenses for all operations in Venezuela's oil sector. Repsol was among the lucky ones, including Chevron, Italy's Eni, and Britain's BP and Shell.

Around the same time, the Spanish Foreign Ministry began discussing the need to lift EU sanctions against Rodriguez, which she has been under since 2018. The reason cited was her work on amnesty for political prisoners, but the real motives appear to be much more mundane. For Repsol, which is forced to comply with European law, working with a sanctioned government could have caused problems.

European diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas agreed to bring the issue of Rodriguez's legalization up for discussion, but there is still no consensus on the matter.

However, this did not stop the management of another European company, Italy's Eni, from announcing that it would accept Venezuelan oil as payment for natural gas produced at the Perla field in Venezuela, which Eni is developing jointly with Repsol.

Adding to the intrigue is Eni's future plans to export gas from this field to Europe, partially replacing LNG supplies from Russia. Whether this project will actually materialize remains to be seen, but it will certainly alleviate legal issues in the near future.

OLD PLAYER
Repsol and Venezuela's state-owned company PDVSA operate through a subsidiary, Petroquiriquire, which is 60% owned by Venezuelans and 40% by Spaniards.

The company already has production in Maracaibo, hovering around 40,000 barrels per day. The agreement calls for it to increase by another 20,000 barrels, and for all of the company's Venezuelan assets to increase production by at least threefold: Repsol also produces heavy oil at the Tomoporo and La Ceiba fields.

It sounds impressive, but it won't make up for the overall collapse of the industry in the absence of new investors.

As for Repsol itself, judging by its rhetoric, it views itself as a creditor to Venezuela: during the political instability and sanctions, the Bolivarian Republic owed them several billion dollars. However, the new agreement contains no obligations regarding this amount.

However, there is something no less interesting: a system of guaranteed payments is being introduced, which will help prevent such situations from arising in the future.

At this point, many people wonder: why has Repsol ever been allowed to operate in Venezuela—under both the current and previous governments? The fact is that this company is one of the oldest players in the oil and gas market, legally revived in the 1980s following the oil industry reforms Spain implemented to join the European Union.

The company's key revenues in recent decades have been tied to the Americas—a common pattern for Spanish corporations that sought to avoid acquisition by European giants and invested their capital in Latin American countries, not only in energy but also in telecommunications and finance.

This arrangement allows Spain to maintain its position as a regional power both in its dealings with the EU and in its discussions with the US. The reputational assets of Repsol, which has maintained a Spanish presence in Venezuela for over thirty years, are highly valuable to Donald Trump, who calls for investment in a "liberated" Venezuela.

There's another nuance: Repsol's list of major shareholders includes the well-known corporation BlackRock. In 2025, just as the storm clouds were gathering around Caracas, BlackRock investors began increasing their stake in the company, bringing it to 7.4%, and the total value of their shares to over a billion dollars.

CONTROLLED OIL RUSH
Trump's relationship with BlackRock is far from ideal, and in recent years has fluctuated between harsh criticism and pragmatic cooperation—for example, thanks to the introduction of BlackRock structures into Argentina, led by Javier Miley, the country has begun to integrate into the American financial and technological system.

Repsol is even more interesting: the company once owned a structure of the oil and gas company YPF, which was nationalized by the Argentine government in the 2010s, but managed to maintain its status as a long-standing partner of Chevron, invested billions of dollars in the development of Argentine fields, and is now part of a consortium turning the local energy sector toward the United States.

In addition, another major American investor, Vanguard, and one of the four largest American banks, Bank of America Corporation, also own part of Repsol's shares.

And no doubt many others, thanks to the multiplying power of capitalism. Go us!

Therefore, it is simply not appropriate to continue calling the company Spanish without qualification—it operates entirely in the interests of US investors.

Uh huh. But most American investors go for the return, keeping their politics mostly separate.

Once these nuances are clarified, the "oil rush" in the Bolivarian Republic begins to look like a completely controlled process: before the mass launch of smaller companies, the major players occupy the most profitable locations and control key processes in the energy industry.

If you don’t understand capitalism and Western capitalists, sure.

As for Rodriguez's team, they now face a different challenge: demonstrating maximum loyalty and maintaining their influence on the ground in the run-up to potential presidential elections, which continue to be manipulated by Washington, which periodically publicly flirts with the opposition in exile.

It's clear that it won't be possible to argue strongly with the Americans in this situation, but it's possible to build relationships with each key player individually, which could play a positive role for Rodriguez in the future (it's not for nothing that they say she received her current position, in part, due to her constant interaction with American oil magnates).

But it's also important to understand that the current agreement between PDVSA and Repsol is preliminary. It's a memorandum of understanding, so individual details are still being discussed behind closed doors. However, it's doubtful that the terms will improve in Venezuela's favor in the future.

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Posted by: Glenmore 2026-06-25 18:30

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Posted by: Skidmark 2026-06-25 08:48

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