Suelopetrol, C.A. – Clase B

What it is

Suelopetrol is a Venezuelan oil company whose main work is the exploration and production of hydrocarbons and the operation of oilfields, together with seismic surveys, drilling, reservoir studies and oilfield management services.

It operates through two arms: Suelopetrol E&P, which hunts for and develops oil and gas assets across Latin America, and Suelopetrol Services, which sells technical expertise — seismic data, drilling, logistics — to the industry.

Who owns it

Founded in 1984, Suelopetrol is a Venezuelan private firm — not state-owned — but its exact controlling shareholder and ownership percentages are not disclosed in available public sources, as audited filings and governance disclosures are gated behind the BVC’s paid financial-statements service.

Venezuela’s securities regulator (SUNAVAL) authorised the withdrawal of Suelopetrol’s public share offering and ordered the cancellation of its registration in the National Securities Registry, notifying the Caracas stock exchange accordingly — a move that leaves its Clase B shares in a regulatory limbo, listed but with no active public float in the ordinary sense.

Who runs it

Henrique Rodríguez served as the head of Suelopetrol when the company converted its operating agreement into the joint-venture structure with PDVSA — the most recent named executive confirmed by a primary official source. A Venezuelan prosecutor’s office confirmed an arrest warrant for the entire board of directors, with reporting indicating that several, including the president, were outside the country.

Current CEO, CFO and board composition are not disclosed in available sources; the company’s own website was inaccessible at the time of writing.

The money, in plain words

No audited revenue, profit, total assets or margins for Suelopetrol are publicly accessible: the BVC’s financial-statements download requires a paid subscription, SUNAVAL’s 2024 annual market report covers the Venezuelan securities market as a whole and does not publish individual company accounts, and the company’s investor-relations pages are offline.

What the public record does confirm is the company’s strategic financial footprint: Suelopetrol International S.A. holds a 1% equity stake in Petroindependencia S.A., the joint venture formed in 2010 by PDVSA (60%), Chevron Carabobo Holdings (34%) and Japan Carabobo UK (5%) — a production venture targeting hundreds of thousands of barrels per day from Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt. PetroCabimas, separately, is structured with PDVSA at 60% and Suelopetrol at 40%, making this the company’s most significant direct operational stake.

What it is doing now

The Bolsa de Valores de Caracas showed notable growth in 2024, with total market capitalisation reaching $3.399 billion by year-end, up 58% from $2.148 billion at end-2023 — the rising-tide context in which Suelopetrol’s Clase B shares sit, even if they themselves show no visible trading activity.

Suelopetrol participates in Petroindependencia — in partnership with PDVSA, Chevron and Japan Carabobo UK — holding the concession and rights to produce and upgrade extra-heavy crude in three blocks of the Carabobo 3 field. Whether those rights are still being actively exercised, given the legal cloud over the board and Venezuela’s broader oil-sector constraints, is not confirmed in available sources.

What to watch

• Legal status of the board. The reported arrest warrants against directors are the single most important unresolved risk; any resolution — acquittal, settlement or replacement management — would be the trigger for a reassessment.
• Petrocabimas and Petroindependencia output. The Cabimas field, where Suelopetrol (through Petrocabimas) is the private partner alongside PDVSA, was producing around 6,100 barrels per day at the time the joint-venture contract was signed — watch for any PDVSA reports on whether that has recovered.
• Re-registration of public offering. The 2014 cancellation of Suelopetrol’s public offering means the Clase B shares exist in name on the BVC but have no liquid market; any move to reinstate the public float would be a material event.
• Venezuela’s oil rebound. Venezuela’s economy grew an estimated 9% in 2024, driven by a recovery in the national oil industry; private oil operators with legacy joint-venture stakes could benefit if that production revival continues.
• Financial disclosure. Until audited accounts become publicly available — through the BVC’s paid portal or a SUNAVAL filing — no meaningful valuation of SPT.B is possible.

This is news, not investment advice.