- MULTILATERALES
The World Bank has identified a first $500 million operation for water and electricity and is waiting for Venezuela to clear its arrears with other multilateral lenders.
Hasta US$5.000 M en dos años · primer año: hasta US$2.000 M con atrasos saldados · último préstamo: 2005
affects water and power contractors, and those following the debt restructuring
- PETRÓLEO
Delcy Rodríguez projects nearly $76 billion in oil investment over five years, with 61 agreements signed and 44 under negotiation.
Zulia: 370.000 b/d, meta de 400.000 al cierre · meta nacional: 1,3 MMb/d al 31-dic · acuerdo con EE.UU.: 17 campos
affects oilfield service companies in Zulia and the partners negotiating the 44 pending agreements
- SANCIONES
Switzerland freezes the assets of Alex Saab, Álvaro Pulido and four other people, and drops Jorge Arreaza and Marleny Contreras from its list.
Altas: 6 · bajas: 2 · lista: 41 nombres · vigencia: hasta el 4-ene-2030
affects banks and asset managers in Switzerland with Venezuelan clients
The World Bank gave Venezuela a sequence, not just an amount: first the arrears with the IDB and CAF, then the portfolio, and every loan subject to its board. The nearly $76 billion Delcy Rodríguez announced the next day comes with no comparable sequence. It is projected investment under the oil agreements, with no breakdown by partner, field or year in the official accounts, and on August 28 she had attributed more than $100 billion to the U.S. agreement alone. The amount that comes with a calendar is the bank's. Its vice president gave herself until year-end to open an office in Caracas and hire a resident representative; if that deadline arrives without a plan for the IDB arrears, the $500 million operation will keep waiting.
↳ From the 26th, powers of attorney and public deeds for dealing with Chilean counterparties can again be processed inside Venezuela.
↳ The court refused on Thursday the 15th to postpone the hearing; after argument, the ruling has no deadline.
↳ The week to October 9 showed 455,000 barrels a day, 27% below the previous week; the United States took more than half of Venezuela's exports in September.
↳ The negotiating table is dealing with the Supreme Court first; the electoral council, which calls elections, has no round assigned.
↳ The value of each holding does not change, only the number of shares outstanding: from 13.11 billion to 131.1 million.
The December Brent contract touched $110 in Friday the 16th's session, a level it had not reached since May, and settled just below it.
The rally was driven by attacks on vessels and reduced traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, plus a hurricane-related drawdown in U.S. inventories. Venezuelan crude tracks Brent at a discount: in September Merey averaged $8.27 below it, according to OPEC, and the Data Hub band of $8 to $14 puts it between $96 and $102 at Friday's quote. That revenue does not go straight to the treasury: under General License 46E, payments to PDVSA go into a U.S. Treasury account. The 2027 budget, delivered on October 14 with no public figures, will show what price the government is counting on.
On Friday the 16th, in Bangkok, the World Bank's regional vice president said the bank could lend Venezuela up to $5 billion over two years.
Susana Cordeiro Guerra, the World Bank's vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean, said on Friday the 16th, in an interview on the sidelines of the annual meetings in Bangkok, that the bank could lend Venezuela up to $5 billion over two years across its public- and private-sector arms, provided conditions allow. It has identified a first $500 million operation, for water and electricity, and could reach $2 billion in the first year if the country clears its arrears with other multilateral lenders. The last loan dates from 2005.
Banco Mundial — vía Bloomberg Línea ↗Hasta US$5.000 M en 2 años · 1.ª operación: US$500 M, agua y electricidad · 1.er año: hasta US$2.000 M con atrasos saldados · atrasos con el BID: más de US$2.000 M · último préstamo: 2005The bank is waiting for the arrears to be cleared before moving ahead. Venezuela owes the IDB more than $2 billion in overdue principal and interest and is also in arrears with CAF, with no public figure. Every loan also goes through the bank's board, which will hire a resident representative and open an office in Caracas before year-end. The bank already works with the government on its macro-fiscal framework and on the debt restructuring.
Water and power contractors and operators: the first identified operation, worth $500 million, goes to those two services.
The Venezuelan treasury in the short run: before the first disbursement it has to catch up with the IDB, with more than $2 billion overdue, and with CAF.
INDICADORThe World Bank's office in Caracas and the appointment of its resident representative. · Antes del 31 de diciembre de 2026, plazo que dio Susana Cordeiro Guerra.
Acting president Delcy Rodríguez said on Saturday the 17th, closing an oil conference in Maracaibo, that projected investment over five years comes to nearly $76 billion.
Acting president Delcy Rodríguez closed the 2nd Energy, Oil and Gas Conference in Maracaibo on Saturday the 17th, via live broadcast. She said projected investment under the oil agreements adds up to nearly $76 billion over five years, with 61 agreements signed and 44 under negotiation; that the U.S. agreement covers 17 fields; and that Zulia went from 70,000 to 370,000 barrels a day, with a 400,000 target by year-end. The official accounts give no breakdown by partner, field or year.
Presidencia encargada · canal de PDVSA ↗Inversión proyectada: casi US$76.000 M en 5 años · acuerdos: 61 firmados, 44 en negociación · acuerdo con EE.UU.: 17 campos · Zulia: 370.000 b/d, meta 400.000 · meta nacional: 1,3 MMb/d al 31-dicAccording to Rodríguez, the U.S. agreement is one of the 61 signed. On August 28 she had attributed more than $100 billion of investment to that agreement alone, with no time frame, and she did not say whether the new figure includes it. The short-term target does have a date: PDVSA is aiming for 1.3 million barrels a day on December 31, against about 1.24 million it reported on October 9, and Zulia would supply half of that increase.
Service companies in Zulia: more than 150 took part in the conference, and Rodríguez said the new hydrocarbons law strengthens the role of domestic companies.
Field operators: according to Rodríguez, the contracts include self-generation schemes, so they must produce their own power instead of drawing it from the grid.
INDICADORThe October output Venezuela reports to OPEC. · Informe mensual de la OPEP de noviembre de 2026.
Since Friday the 16th, Switzerland's Venezuela-related asset-freeze list adds Alex Saab, Álvaro Pulido and four other people, and removes Marleny Contreras and Jorge Arreaza.
An ordinance from Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, dated October 14 and in force since Friday the 16th at 9:00 Swiss time, amended the annex to the O-Venezuela, which freezes the assets of politically exposed persons and their associates. Added are Alex Saab, a former industry minister; businessman Álvaro Pulido; lawyer José Vicente Amparan Croquer and businessman Mario Bonilla Vallera, described as associates of Nicolás Maduro and his son; and two spouses of former officials already listed. Former foreign minister Jorge Arreaza and Marleny Contreras are removed.
Consejo Federal suizo — DFAE ↗En vigor: 16-oct, 9:00 hora suiza · altas: 6, entre ellas Saab y Pulido · bajas: 2, Arreaza y Contreras · lista: 41 nombres · vigencia: hasta el 4-ene-2030 · ordenanza del DFAE del 14-octThe legal basis is the Swiss law on the freezing and restitution of illicit assets of foreign politically exposed persons, and Article 1 defines the measure as a freeze with a view to mutual legal assistance. Anyone holding or managing listed persons' assets in Switzerland must freeze them immediately and report them to the money laundering reporting office, according to FINMA. The list stands at 41 names and runs until January 4, 2030. The ordinance does not explain the two removals.
Jorge Arreaza and Marleny Contreras, Diosdado Cabello's wife: they leave the list, and any assets of theirs in Switzerland are no longer frozen.
The six added, starting with Alex Saab and Álvaro Pulido, and the Swiss banks and asset managers that have them as clients, which must freeze and report.
INDICADORA request for mutual legal assistance from Venezuela or another state over listed persons' assets, or a new change to the annex. · Sin plazo fijo; el bloqueo rige hasta el 4 de enero de 2030.