OIL COMPANY · ITALIAN OPERATOR
Eni
Eni is the Italian oil company with stakes in gas and crude projects in Venezuela, operating under the OFAC licensing framework alongside PDVSA.
VE Pulses
13Caracas must pay first for GE Vernova to start repairing Corpoelec's power grid
Since the September agreement, the obstacle is no longer technical: engineering is done and contractors are lined up, but the company will not carry out work without being paid first, and the government has said nothing in public about when it will pay.
Machado returns to Caracas with no public guarantees from the government and outside the dialogue table
Until Saturday, the opposition leader was trying to return from Panama; since Sunday she is in Caracas, with a travel ban and a disqualification that, by reported accounts, remain in force, and outside a table that put off electoral council reform.
Over wages of $5 a week, PDVSA workers idle boats on Lake Maracaibo
The crews that serve PDVSA on the lake, on wages their union puts at five dollars a week, joined the retirees' protests on Monday in the basin where the company wants 400,000 barrels a day before December.
The IMF estimates Venezuela's GDP grew 9% in 2025, six times what it calculated in April
The Fund's new series shows a deeper fall between 2018 and 2020 and a faster recovery since 2022. In the same tables, projected inflation rises and the external surplus it expected in April turns into a deficit.
The State Department swears in the Maduro case that only Delcy Rodríguez can act for Venezuela
March's recognition rested on a statement and a speech by Trump. Since Friday the 2nd it rests on a sworn declaration, which prosecutors in New York are using to deny Maduro head-of-state immunity.
TotalEnergies signs with PDVSA without being one of the six companies Washington authorizes by name
The annex that names authorized operators in writing has not added a company since June. On Saturday one that is not on it signed at Miraflores, and no fields, amounts or timetable were disclosed.
The signature for PDVSA changes in the Delaware case auctioning Citgo's parent
On May 11 the court record noted the removal of three Arnold & Porter attorneys. On Tuesday a one-partner Wilmington firm appeared for Petroleos de Venezuela. The sale the judge authorized has still not closed.
Eni replaces PDVSA at Junín-5: the field produces 5% of what was promised for 2018
Since 2010 the field was run by a joint venture with PDVSA holding 60% and the spending shared. The contract Eni signed on Wednesday takes it out of the operation and, on the terms January's law set, leaves the state carrying no debt: the operator is paid a percentage of metered barrels.
Five months separate "Maduro's inner circle" from "the highly respected Interim President"
The first phrase titles the action by which the U.S. Treasury sanctioned her in September 2018, alongside the then president’s wife. The second comes from Friday’s announcement. Between them, an administrative deletion from the list on April 1.
No extension: on Tuesday each oil company decides whether the new fiscal regime pencils out
With the deadline firm, migrating turns from paperwork into arithmetic: at 20% to 35% by field type, each operator decides whether the return holds or keeps its rights without the fiscal benefit.
Washington rewrites the rules of Venezuela's oil and gold into a single framework, with an explicit veto on Chinese capital
The opening is no longer a collection of permits but a regime: wider than ever, administered in Washington and revocable with a single signature.
Exxon sits with the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela goes to Houston for inputs and Darren Woods crosses Canadian heavy oil data with the Faja
Exxon stops being a rumor and turns into bilateral meetings and operational engineering, Saudi Arabia cedes its Indian share and Caracas opens a Drilling School — three movements that fix the upstream timeline.
Weekly close: Exxon nears Venezuela deal, Conoco rejects 95% take, Delcy heads to India and BVC raises capital
The apertura now has a name moving and a name objecting — Exxon close to an announcement, Conoco putting a numeric ceiling on what the framework can ask.
Analysis
04Gas in Venezuela: the country flares more than twice what Perla delivers
Perla, the Eni and Repsol field, covers a third of the domestic market with the country's most expensive gas and is paid by PDVSA in crude. PDVSA Gas says supply is guaranteed; Repsol says the country should not depend on Cardón IV. Meanwhile, the World Bank estimates Venezuela flared 13.5 billion cubic meters in 2025.
Venezuela's OFAC licenses: the Federal Register prints the version no longer in force
On September 11 OFAC took four Venezuela-program licenses to the Federal Register. Three had been superseded before they appeared in print, and the one covering Chevron, Repsol, Shell, BP, Eni and Maurel & Prom ran requiring U.S. law and a U.S. forum — exactly what the version in force stopped asking for on August 27.
PDVSA hands operations to Eni and GeoPark: who funds capital in the Orinoco Belt
The explanatory memorandum of January's reformed law defines the structure in two lines: the operator assumes integral management at its own cost and risk, the state incurs no debt and compensation is a percentage of metered volumes. On September 2 that structure moved from mid-sized operators to a European supermajor.
GL 50A: The named license — 6 majors authorized for unrestricted operations in Venezuela's oil sector
OFAC named six companies in an annex: Chevron, BP, Eni, Repsol, Shell, and Maurel & Prom. For these companies and their subsidiaries, GL 50A authorizes all transactions related to oil and gas operations in Venezuela.
Sector Briefs
05Venezuela upstream October 2026: Merey made the quarter that production did not
Venezuela reported 1,206,000 barrels a day to OPEC for September, 5,000 more than in August, while Merey rose $16.93 to $93.75. PDVSA counts 61 signed agreements, and the first start-up declared to a regulator points to the end of 2026.
Venezuela Upstream July 2026: LOH Regulation drops PDVSA (Gaceta 7,052), Repsol signs Horcón MoU, OFAC amends GL 46C-54A, Brent normalizes to $81
The first comprehensive Hydrocarbons Law regulation since 1943 opens upstream to privates without a mandatory joint venture; the VE Score eases from 94 to 84 on Brent's correction (May $104 → July $81), not regulatory deterioration.
Chevron Q1 revela 1–2% del CFO (cash flow operativo) en Venezuela; producción cruza 1.23M bpd y GL 5W señala coordinación con Citgo
Brief VE-ENERGY-UPSTREAM mayo 2026. El upstream entra en fase de ejecución contractual: exportaciones cruzan 1.23M bpd en abril (máximo en 7 años, +14% intermensual), Chevron en su call Q1 (1 may) confirma Venezuela = 1–2% del CFO (cash flow operativo) con cuenta por cobrar de $1.5B en amortización a 2027 y sin compromiso de capex incremental antes de clarificación fiscal. GL 5W (4 may) extiende protección bono PDVSA 2020 hasta 19 jun — extensión más corta en dos años, señal de coordinación Treasury con proceso judicial Citgo en Delaware. Repsol Petroquiriquire, Eni Junín-5 y Maurel & Prom operativos bajo GL 50A.
Production crosses 1 million bpd and majors sign: upstream closes Q1 with complete framework and binding power ceiling
VE-ENERGY-UPSTREAM April 2026 brief. Hydrocarbons reform passed (Jan 29), OFAC GL 52 (Mar 18), formal returns from Eni, Repsol and Chevron in April. Production 1.095M bpd, exports >1M for the first time in 6 months. India overtakes China as top buyer at 343K bpd. Revenues channeled to U.S. Treasury custody via EO 14373. The binding ceiling remains electrical (covered in VE-ENERGY-DOMESTICO).
The oil opening in numbers: regulatory framework, production, OFAC licenses
The oil opening in numbers. Regulatory framework, production, OFAC licenses, and the players positioning themselves.
OFAC Licenses
03GL 50C — Oil or Gas Sector Operations of Listed Entities
Authorizes transactions related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela of the entities listed in the Annex and their subsidiaries —BP, Chevron, Eni, Maurel & Prom, Repsol and Shell, the same six as in June—, with Treasury routing of payments, taxes and royalties. As of August 27, 2026, the contract must only route disputes to the U.S., U.K., France, or Singapore. Supersedes GL 50B.
GL 46B — Expanded Venezuelan Oil and Petrochemical Trade
Expanded version of GL 46 extending authorizations to activities involving Venezuelan-origin oil, petrochemical products, and supply of goods and services to the sector. Captures Repsol/Eni/M&P relationships without requiring specific licenses.
GL 50A — Oil and Gas Sector Operations
Authorizes specific operations in the Venezuelan oil and gas sector including field development, infrastructure, transportation, and commercialization by foreign operators (Repsol, Eni, BP, Shell, Maurel & Prom).
Related entities
Official sources
This page aggregates Vene Economist editorial coverage of this entity as reference for institutional investors. It does not constitute investment or legal advice.