Oil Industry in Venezuela-January 2026
What many believed impossible in Venezuela happened on January 3, 2026. Nicolás Maduro, then acting as president, was removed from power by U.S. military forces, triggering a U.S.-led period of oversight and political transition. The Venezuelan oil industry has entered a period of unprecedented uncertainty, while waiting for the arrival of the required and offered private international investment marked by severely deteriorated and constrained infrastructure and vast crude oil reserves awaiting extraction.
Although the nation holds the world’s largest oil reserves—estimated at up to 364 billion barrels —the sector is hamstrung by severe infrastructure decay, and a lack of technical expertise.
Venezuela's production fell from 3 million b/d in 2008 to roughly 963,000 b/d by December 2025. The majority of Venezuela's production is heavy or extra-heavy crude. Approximately 60% of current production is estimated to be the extra-heavy base crude from the Orinoco Belt.
PDVSA was shutting down well clusters because onshore storage was 45% full and the country was lacking the diluents necessary to blend heavy crude into exportable grades like Merey 16.
While refining nameplate capacity is 1.46 million b/d, refineries operate at a fraction of this due to fires, lack of feedstock, and years of underinvestment. For example, the Paraguaná Refining Center was processing at only 10% capacity as of late 2023.
The main oil port is Jose, where cargo deliveries have slowed significantly; as of Jan. 5, no tankers were docked to load for export or domestic supply.
Exports averaged 670,000 b/d in December 2025, dropping from 922,000 b/d in November. Chevron has maintained operations through joint ventures, producing about 200,000 b/d. Chevron has been loading Venezuelan oil at its fastest pace in months. The company is currently in talks with the U.S. government to expand its operating license.
Exports now are subject to the U.S. instructions to reach oil production recovery with the participation of international oil traders and operators.
Around 30–50 million barrels were estimated to be held in floating and onshore storage due to export disruptions.
VASSYC has issued a report where we cover the Oil industry situation in Venezuela with more detail. You may access it at the following link.
