BP has secured a licence to develop the second phase of Venezuela’s Loran offshore gasfield in partnership with firms connected to the Trump administration. The collaborators include a Qatari company owned by the Al-Khayyat brothers, who are working with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner on a resort development in Albania, as well as the overseas investment division of the UAE’s national oil company headed by industry minister Sultan Al Jaber.
The British oil company’s move follows Shell’s earlier summer award to develop the first phase of the Loran field and positions BP among the first large-scale international energy firms to return to Venezuela’s energy sector following recent geopolitical shifts. Italian firm Eni is also engaged in discussions regarding Venezuelan oil projects. BP Chief Executive Meg O’Neill, a former ExxonMobil executive, characterised the arrangement as reflecting progress in collaboration with the Venezuelan government and as a demonstration of the company’s regional expertise in developing major gas resources.
The Trump administration has called for foreign oil companies to invest at least $100 billion in Venezuela’s energy revival. While US firms ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have begun exploring opportunities, they have moved cautiously given Venezuela’s 2007 nationalisation of its oil industry. Chevron has remained as a minority partner throughout the transition. Recent months have seen oil output climb to approximately 1.2 million barrels daily, with US exports reaching their highest levels since 2019, recovering from decades of decline that reduced production from over 3.5 million barrels daily during the late 1990s.
Venezuela possesses the world’s largest proven oil reserves, though sustained underinvestment and operational challenges had substantially diminished its production capacity. The current agreements represent some of the first major foreign energy investments in the country since leadership changes took effect earlier this year.
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