More Than 25 Firms Weigh Venezuela Entry as Licences Widen
VENEZUELA · BUSINESS
Key Facts
- —The count Colombian business daily La Republica counted more than 25 companies weighing entry, investment or new business in Venezuela.
- —Whose figure It is the newspaper’s own tally, published 7 September 2026. No chamber, government or consultancy is cited as its source.
- —The earlier count El Colombiano put the figure at 17 in late June, also sourced only to market and analyst talk.
- —What changed Sanctions relief has come through a run of OFAC general licences since Executive Order 14373 of 9 January 2026.
- —The limit General Licence 49 permits negotiating and signing contingent contracts. It does not permit drilling, production or payment.
- —Named for oil Only six companies are cleared to operate under General Licence 50B: BP, Chevron, Eni, Maurel & Prom, Repsol and Shell.
More than 25 companies are said to be circling Venezuela. Signing a contract there and being allowed to perform it are two different things.
More than 25 companies are considering entry, investment or new business in Venezuela, according to a tally by the Colombian business daily La Republica published on 7 September 2026. The number is the newspaper’s own, not an official one.
Where the Number Comes From
La Republica compiled the list itself, from the examples it names. No business chamber, government body or consultancy is cited as the source of the count.
Fedecameras Radio republished the figure under a headline about international companies betting on the Venezuelan market, attributing it only to recent data on the business climate.
That is a republication of the same tally, not independent confirmation of it. The distinction matters when the number is quoted onward.
An earlier count by El Colombiano in late June reached 17 companies, again sourced to market talk and analysts rather than to a named authority.
Who Is on the List
In oil and gas the paper names GeoPark, PDVSA, Repsol, Shell, Vitol, XRG, BP, Chevron, ENI, Primavera and Aspect.
In power generation it names Impsa and GE Vernova. In aviation, Avianca, LATAM Airlines Colombia, Wingo, American Airlines, United Airlines and Qatar Airways.
In food and consumer goods it lists Grupo Nutresa, Saju, Grupo AJE and Palnorte. In construction materials, Grupo Argos, Cementos Argos and Andimallas & Andimetales.
The lists mix companies that are considering entry, companies investing and companies already operating. None of the individual plans is independently verified.
What the Law Now Allows
Sanctions relief has come through a sequence of general licences issued under the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations, following Executive Order 14373 of 9 January 2026.
General Licence 46A, in January, authorised established United States entities to lift, export, resell, store, market and transport Venezuelan oil. Licence 47 covered United States-origin diluents.
Licence 48, in February, allowed the supply of goods, technology, software and services for oil and gas exploration, development and production, while excluding new joint ventures.
In September the same architecture was extended to coal and minerals including gold, and in August to telecommunications.
Contracts with the Venezuelan state or PDVSA must be governed by United States law, with disputes heard in the United States, the United Kingdom, France or Singapore.
The Distinction That Decides Everything
General Licence 49, issued in February, authorises the negotiation of and entry into contingent contracts for new oil and gas investment. That includes executory contracts, binding memoranda, bids and due diligence.
It does not authorise performance. No drilling, production, services or payments may begin under it without separate authorisation.
Actual operations require a company either to be named in General Licence 50B or to hold a specific licence. Only six companies are named: BP, Chevron, Eni, Etablissements Maurel & Prom, Repsol and Shell.
That is why a signed Venezuelan contract is not the same as a Venezuelan business. Much of the current activity sits in the signing stage.
What Is Actually Being Produced
Venezuela produced about 1.117 million barrels a day in July, on OPEC secondary sources, or 1.2 million on PDVSA’s own reporting.
Exports ran at about 1.17 million barrels a day in August, broadly flat on the month. In April the split was 445,000 barrels a day direct to the United States, 374,000 to India and 165,000 to Europe.
Chevron alone lifted about 308,000 barrels a day, roughly a quarter of exports. Vitol and Trafigura together accounted for about 56%.
India overtook China as the largest buyer earlier this year, a reversal of the pattern that held before 2026.
What the Government Claims
Delcy Rodriguez, sworn in as acting president on 5 January 2026, told oil workers on 4 September that more than 50 international accords had been signed.
She set a target of more than 1.5 million barrels a day and described a 25-year project covering 17 fields holding 65 billion barrels, about a fifth of the country’s stated reserves.
She said Venezuela was shaping not only its own future but its contribution to the world. Partners named included firms from Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
These are government claims rather than verified figures, and should be read as such.
What to Watch
The first marker is any move from contingent contracts to actual operations. That requires specific authorisation and would be the real signal.
The second is whether OFAC widens the list of named operators beyond the current six.
The third is production. A target of 1.5 million barrels a day against roughly 1.1 million now is a large gap to close.
The fourth is whether the tally itself firms up. A newspaper count of more than 25 is a starting point, not a measurement.
More: Venezuela news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who says more than 25 companies are coming?
The Colombian business daily La Republica, in its own tally published on 7 September 2026. No chamber, government or consultancy is named as the source.
Can foreign companies operate in Venezuela now?
Only in part. General Licence 49 permits signing contingent contracts, but performance requires separate authorisation, and only six companies are named in General Licence 50B.
How much oil does Venezuela produce?
About 1.117 million barrels a day in July on OPEC secondary sources, or 1.2 million on PDVSA’s own reporting.
Who buys Venezuelan crude?
The United States, India and Europe are the main destinations. India overtook China as the largest single buyer earlier in 2026.
Sources: La Republica, El Colombiano, OFAC, Morgan Lewis, Akerman, OPEC, Reuters.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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