Venezuela Bets Oil Investment on Light Crude, Not the Orinoco
Venezuela · OIL
Key Facts
- —Who Hydrocarbons minister Paula Henao, speaking to investors in Houston.
- —When Remarks on 19 August, fuller detail reported on 26 August 2026.
- —Scale Venezuela light crude output runs near 200,000 to 240,000 barrels per day.
- —Cost United States suppliers sent about 75,000 barrels per day of diluent this year.
- —Field Tomoporo in Zulia and Trujillo states is the named prize.
Lighter barrels cut the naphtha import bill and can be sold, so PDVSA wants more of them.
Venezuela is steering fresh exploration money toward Venezuela light crude, a change of emphasis for the home of the world’s heaviest oil. Hydrocarbons minister Paula Henao set out the shift to investors in Houston this month.
What the minister told investors in Houston
Paula Henao, Venezuela’s hydrocarbons minister, spoke to oil executives in Houston on 19 August 2026. She said the country holds openings in light and medium crude and in gas, not only heavy oil.
A week later Argus Media reported her fuller message, which Caracas business site Banca y Negocios carried on 26 August. Exploration effort is now aimed at light and medium grades to lift overall output.
That is a real change of emphasis for a producer known worldwide for tar-like barrels. Venezuela light crude has long been treated as a side product rather than a target worth funding.
Henao said 916 areas are open for exploration and production. About 140 companies attended, according to Bloomberg.
Why lighter barrels are worth more to PDVSA
PDVSA is Petróleos de Venezuela, the state company behind every producing joint venture. Most of its reserves are extra-heavy crude that will not flow through a pipeline unaided.
That oil measures roughly 7 to 10 degrees on the American Petroleum Institute gravity scale, thicker than cold molasses. To move it, PDVSA blends in a thinner liquid called a diluent, usually naphtha.
The naphtha is bought abroad and shipped in, so every exported barrel carries an imported ingredient. That ingredient is a cash cost, a cargo to schedule and a supply risk.
Venezuela light crude solves two problems at once, since it can thin the heavy grades and also be sold. A home-produced diluent barrel replaces a purchase and shortens the supply chain.
How little light crude the country actually pumps
Venezuela pumps only about 200,000 to 240,000 barrels per day of crude near 30 degrees gravity. A company source gave that figure to Argus, against total output near 1.2 million barrels per day.
OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, put July output at 1.117 million barrels per day. That number comes from the secondary sources its monthly report uses, not from Caracas.
The company’s own submission to the same report was higher, at 1.200 million barrels per day for July. June was reported at 1.187 million, so the two series move together but do not match.
The gap is old and technical, turning on whether condensate and natural gas liquids belong in the count. Venezuela light crude sits awkwardly inside that dispute, because much of it arrives with condensate.
Henao put about 86 percent of the country’s 303 billion barrels of reserves in the Orinoco Belt. Those are the extra-heavy pools; the lighter ones lie mainly in the west and the east.
The diluent bill that never goes away
United States suppliers have sent roughly 75,000 barrels per day of diluent so far in 2026, Argus reported. Analytics firm Kpler has tracked recent naphtha flows nearer 100,000 barrels per day.
The stated goal of 3 million barrels per day by 2030 would need more than double today’s diluent volume. Every extra heavy barrel drags a thinner barrel behind it.
Argus Consulting estimates each naphtha shortfall of 10,000 barrels per day costs 25,000 to 30,000 barrels per day of exports. The penalty runs at roughly three to one.
PDVSA does not publish what the diluent programme costs in US$ terms, and no verified annual figure exists. Treat any single dollar total for the Venezuela light crude substitution effort as unconfirmed.
Tomoporo, the giant of the west
Hopes rest on Tomoporo, a field straddling Zulia and Trujillo states. It sits in the Lake Maracaibo basin, with wells on land and in the lake.
It holds an estimated 2.5 to 2.65 billion barrels of crude near 32 degrees gravity, plus condensate. Associated gas comes from the Misoa formation beneath it.
Tomoporo pumped around 150,000 barrels per day in 2004 and now yields 50,000 to 55,000. That range covers Tomoporo plus the neighbouring Barúa and Motatán fields, using company data seen by Argus.
Industry sources blame thin investment, weak management and theft of equipment such as copper cable. Rebuilding that surface plant is the practical meaning of a Venezuela light crude strategy.
Repsol is the operator to watch
Spain’s Repsol has run Tomoporo as foreign operator since 2004 and worked in Venezuela since 1993. Its portfolio also covers Petrocarabobo and the Cardón IV gas venture held with Italy’s Eni.
The relevant vehicle is Petroquiriquire, a joint venture in which PDVSA holds 60 percent and Repsol holds 40 percent. Since 2024 that venture has included the Tomoporo and La Ceiba fields.
In April 2026 Repsol agreed terms that returned operating control of Petroquiriquire to the Spanish company. Sanctions relief made that handover possible after years of restricted activity.
Repsol said in 2024 it planned to spend US$ 400 million rehabilitating existing wells and adding 20,000 barrels per day. On 17 June 2026 it signed a memorandum on the Horcón block, which lies between Barúa and Motatán.
Which United States licences allow the work
OFAC is the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the United States Treasury unit that enforces sanctions. Its Venezuela general licences decide what foreign companies may legally do.
General Licence 52A of 10 June 2026 authorises certain transactions involving PDVSA itself. General Licence 50B of the same date covers oil and gas operations by named entities.
General Licence 46C of 10 June 2026 covers activities involving Venezuelan-origin oil and petrochemical products. General Licence 47A, issued the same day, authorises selling United States diluents to Venezuela.
General Licence 49A of 13 March 2026 permits negotiating and entering contingent investment contracts. The newest Venezuela licences, numbers 61 and 62 of 21 August 2026, concern telecommunications only.
What has not been shown yet
No capital budget has been published splitting spending between heavy and lighter grades. Without that split, the size of the Venezuela light crude shift cannot be measured from outside.
There is no dated production target for Tomoporo, Barúa or Motatán. Any timetable for restoring the 2004 rate is an aspiration, not a plan.
Investors should follow two numbers. One is monthly naphtha import volume, the other is reported output at the western fields.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Venezuela import light oil at all?
Its main reserves are extra-heavy and too thick to move without a thinner liquid mixed in. That thinner, usually naphtha, has mostly been bought abroad and shipped in.
How much light crude does Venezuela produce?
Roughly 200,000 to 240,000 barrels per day of crude near 30 degrees gravity, a company source told Argus. Venezuela light crude is therefore a small slice of output near 1.2 million barrels per day.
Who operates the field at the centre of the plan?
Tomoporo sits inside the Petroquiriquire joint venture, owned 60 percent by PDVSA and 40 percent by Repsol. Repsol regained operating control in April 2026 after United States sanctions were eased.
Connected Coverage
PDVSA Diluent Imports From US Fuel Venezuela’s Heavy Crude Exports
Sources
- www.bancaynegocios.com
- www.bancaynegocios.com
- www.repsol.com
- www.kpler.com
- ofac.treasury.gov
- ofac.treasury.gov
- venezuelanalysis.com
- www.argusmedia.com
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