India has ramped up purchases of Russian oil and revived alternate supplies from Africa, Iran and Venezuela to blunt a sharp crude shortfall from the crisis-ridden Middle East, analysts said
Repsol SA said Thursday it had signed a deal with Venezuela on the terms of a renewed partnership that would see the Spanish company increase its oil production in the South American country.
Spain’s Repsol will return to Venezuela after it signed a new deal with the Venezuelan government, with plans to increase crude oil production in the country by 50% from current levels.
Venezuela produced an average of 1.1 million barrels of crude daily this month, up from 942,000 barrels daily in February, according to a PDVSA presentation, as cited by Reuters.
The African Energy Chamber (AEC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Venezuela’s Ministry of People’s Power for Hydrocarbons and state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), establishing a framework for cooperation across the oil and gas value chain.
Venezuela’s government has suspended 19 production-sharing agreements with private oil companies, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed sources. The deals are for projects in Lake Maracaibo, the Orinoco Belt, and several mature fields.
CH4 Systems LLC has formed a strategic alliance aimed at enabling U.S. energy companies to restore Venezuela’s oil and gas infrastructure under a U.S. governance framework.
Venezuela can bolster oil production by 30% to 40% this year, an increase of roughly 300,000 to 400,000 bpd, according to U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
In early January 2026, U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro and brought him into U.S. custody on drug charges. In subsequent public statements, the Trump administration announced an intent to encourage private-sector participation and investment in Venezuela’s energy sector, despite broad U.S. sanctions on the Venezuelan government.
The US government has granted licences to five Western oil companies including BP, Chevron, Eni, Repsol and Shell to resume oil and gas operations in Venezuela, Bloomberg reported on Friday.