Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA said interim president Delcy Rodriguez met with oil executives from Spain’s Repsol and France’s Maurel & Prom on Wednesday, a month after the United States deposed the country’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.
In two statements posted to Telegram Wednesday, PDVSA said Rodriguez held meetings with Repsol to “strengthen the country’s energy sovereignty through respect and win-win cooperation” and with Maurel & Prom to consolidate “strategic alliances that reinforce the country’s energy production capacity.”
Both companies have operated in Venezuela for years through joint ventures with PDVSA — with the Venezuelan government being the majority shareholder — and have faced repeated disruptions due to US sanctions as a result.
Rodriguez, the former vice president who rose to power after Maduro was captured by US forces on January 3, did not issue any statements on the meetings, which were also attended by PDVSA President Hector Obregon.
Under pressure from US President Donald Trump, Venezuela has overseen reforms to its oil sector that open the door to increased foreign investment.
With the largest natural oil reserves in the world, Venezuela reached a production rate of 1.2 million barrels per day, a sharp increase from the 300,000 produced daily in 2020 but still a far cry from the 3 million achieved during its peak at the turn of the century.
