Paula Henao, Venezuela's Hydrocarbuels Minister, will participate this Wednesday in Houston in a meeting with representatives of US energy companies. According to Politico, citing three sources familiar with the negotiations, new agreements could be reached to increase private participation in Venezuelan crude production.
The meeting takes place as Caracas seeks to attract investment to recover the oil industry and Washington pushes for a greater presence of US companies in Venezuela's energy sector. According to the report, independent US oil companies would be prepared to sign production contracts with Petróleos de Venezuela.
The potential agreements would be signed in Houston, although the names of the companies involved and the amounts or contract terms are not yet publicly known. Henao's presence in Texas also aims to promote the Venezuela Energy Week, an investment fair that the Venezuelan government plans to hold in late February in Caracas.
The possible entry of new US operators comes in an industry attempting to recover production levels after years of sanctions, lack of investment and deterioration of facilities. The Donald Trump administration has made the recovery of Venezuelan production one of the central elements of its new energy policy toward the country, promoting mechanisms to facilitate US company participation.
In March, the US Treasury Department issued a licence allowing US companies to conduct certain activities related to the exploitation and commercialisation of Venezuelan oil. The new scenario has also sparked interest from other international companies studying opportunities to participate in production, infrastructure and hydrocarbon commercialisation projects in Venezuela.
