Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Regulation: The 20%–35% Fiscal Table That Redefines Oil Investment

Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Law Regulation is now in force (Gazette Ext. 7,052): 83 years later, it sets a 20%–35% fiscal table by project type. What remains at the Ministry's discretion is no longer the rate, but which category each oil contract falls into.

Published July 15, 2026

Eighty-three years after its last regulation, Venezuela has the implementation manual for its oil opening. Decree No. 5,381, published in Special Official Gazette No. 7,052, does not leave the fiscal rate to guesswork: it fixes, article by article, how much a project pays based on its category. This is not a framework open to case-by-case bargaining. It is a table.

But a fiscal table does not close every question. Discretion did not disappear: it moved one step back. It no longer sits in how much is paid —that is written down—, but in who decides which category a contract falls into. That is the variable an investor should watch from now on, not the rate.

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VENE · ECONOMIST Intelligence Unit · Informational analysis. Does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice. Vene Economist is not a credit rating agency; the "VE Verdict" is a proprietary editorial indicator, not a credit rating. Always verify against the primary source before making decisions.

Pacific Coast Energy already runs the fields of two joint ventures whose private partners say they still hold their 40%. What each can claim outside Venezuela turns on its company’s nationality: the Dutch one lost its treaty protection in 2023; the Spanish one keeps it, with ownership that will be hard to prove.

OFAC · GL 48D

GL 48D — Supply of Goods and Services to Venezuela

Authorizes the supply from the U.S. or by a U.S. person of goods, technology, software or services for oil, gas and petrochemical exploration, development and production —including maintenance and repair of equipment—, and for electricity generation, transmission, storage and distribution in Venezuela. As of September 28, 2026, the petrochemical annex lists methanol. The formation of new joint ventures remains outside the license. Supersedes GL 48C.

SECTOR BRIEF · VE-SECTORS

Venezuela productive sector August 2026: the gateway waits on paperwork, not on construction

The Maiquetía terminal opening set for August 24 did not happen and that day's drill closed with no date. The September 1 in circulation sits in reservation systems, not in an official act: what is missing is slot assignment, and United already moved its route to January 2027.

Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Regulation: The 20%–35% Fiscal Table That Redefines Oil Investment

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GL 48D — Supply of Goods and Services to Venezuela

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