Colombia sees a promising outlook in Venezuela's hydrocarbon sector, but without a quick recovery
In the short term, no rapid or automatic recovery of the hydrocarbon sector is foreseen, indicates Frank Pearl, president of the Colombian Association of Petroleum and Gas. Why is this happening? By Semana SEMANA: It is known that Venezuela is a country with great oil potential. In simple terms, what are we talking about? Frank [...]
TL;DR
- Venezuela holds the world's largest oil reserves, estimated at 303 billion barrels, approximately 19% of global reserves.
- Current production is around 1 million barrels per day, far below its historical peak of over 3 million barrels per day.
- Geological potential suggests production could be four to five times higher with adequate investment, stability, and operational conditions.
- The hydrocarbon sector faces short-to-medium term restrictions due to ongoing regulatory development, infrastructure decay, lack of sustained investment, and an uncertain political, regulatory, and sanctioning environment.
- New Organic Hydrocarbons Law aims to increase production, incentivize investment, and provide economic stability, allowing greater private sector participation.
- Despite regulatory changes favoring private investment, the environment remains high-risk and in transition, with institutional and political uncertainty persisting.