Brazil’s Batista Family Eyes Venezuela’s Oil Reset as Washington Tightens the Spigot

Key Points

• Brazil’s Batista brothers are quietly positioning around a Venezuelan oil venture tied to ConocoPhillips’ former fields.
• A new interim government is signaling legal tweaks to attract capital, while PDVSA control remains a central constraint.
• U.S. policy is now the main gatekeeper, shaping exports, cash flows, and who moves first.

The Batista brothers are exploring a bet on Venezuela’s oil revival at the exact moment the rules are being rewritten.

People familiar with the talks say a business associate linked to the family obtained a stake in Petrolera Roraima, a joint venture built around heavy-oil fields once operated by ConocoPhillips before the country’s nationalizations.

The timing is not accidental. After U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro in early January, Delcy Rodríguez assumed the interim presidency and quickly began courting foreign investment.

She has proposed reforms to Venezuela’s hydrocarbon law to make it easier to develop underused fields, even as current rules still require PDVSA to keep majority control in many projects.

Petrolera Roraima fits that framework. PDVSA holds 51% and A&B Oil and Gas holds 49%. The venture’s stated ambition is vast: about 1 billion barrels of oil and roughly 351 billion cubic feet of gas. It also comes with rare infrastructure.

Venezuelan oil faces US control

The project is tied to an upgrader system designed to turn extra-heavy crude into higher-value synthetic crude, alongside outputs like natural gas, petcoke, and sulfur.

Production has been volatile. In mid-2024, the venture was reported at roughly 22,000 barrels per day. Later reporting put output around 32,000 barrels per day between June and October, before sliding as U.S. measures began constraining Venezuelan exports and shipping.

That U.S. role is now decisive. Washington has already arranged at least one sale of Venezuelan oil worth about $500 million, with proceeds held under U.S.-controlled arrangements.

The administration has also supported vessel seizures tied to the trade, reinforcing that access is conditional and reversible. J&F, the Batista holding company, says it has no assets in Venezuela today.

Its position is cautious: it will evaluate investments only once there is institutional stability and legal certainty. In practice, the next chapter depends on whether promised reforms arrive, contracts are enforceable, and U.S. policy stays open long enough for capital to follow.

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