Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, told the country’s top business federation on Thursday that her government is negotiating 44 more oil and gas agreements, on top of 61 already signed. People living through blackouts that can last more than 10 hours still haven’t seen a single contract text.
Rodríguez spoke at the opening of the 82nd annual assembly of Fedecámaras, the main federation of business chambers, at the Eurobuilding hotel in Caracas. She said Venezuela expects about US$12 billion in public and private financing over two years, with funds meant to reach large, medium and small firms, along with entrepreneurs. She didn’t break down the expected money by lender or private bank.
The Numbers, and What’s Missing
According to TalCual, the government says the 105 signed and pending agreements could create about 320,000 jobs within four years. Rodríguez also said oil production has grown 8% so far this year. Neither figure came with a published breakdown. The government hasn’t released a list of the 44 pending contracts, named the companies behind them or disclosed their value. These government figures on jobs, production and the exchange-rate gap can’t be independently checked.
One deal is public. On Wednesday, California-based Pacific Coast Energy Company announced agreements worth about US$3.5 billion with state oil firm PDVSA, TalCual reported. The company said it took over the Delta and Cabimas oil blocks, where output starts at about 19,300 barrels a day. It aims to double production within six months and reach a peak of 150,000 to 160,000 barrels a day.
Power Cuts and a Promised Overhaul
Ordinary Venezuelans feel the strain most directly through the electricity grid. Protests over blackouts have broken out, TalCual reported. Rodríguez blamed twin earthquakes on 24 June for damaging 800 megawatts of capacity and said the government has restored 600 megawatts. She said agreements with General Electric and the company INSA would add 7,400 megawatts over time.
A reform of the electricity law will follow “in the coming days, weeks,” she said, and no later than this year. The planned law would allow private companies to invest in power generation, transmission and distribution. The government hasn’t published the reform text or the promised tax reform, which is meant to “harmonise” the tax burden. She gave no date for the tax measure.
Rodríguez also rejected calls from some business leaders to make the U.S. dollar Venezuela’s official currency. “It is not dollarization that will solve Venezuela’s problem,” she said, according to Efecto Cocuyo, an independent Venezuelan outlet. She said the gap between official and parallel exchange rates fell from 65.7% in January to 11.7% in October. She wants to narrow it further “with international banking, with US banking,” TalCual reported.
Multilateral Money, Washington’s Vote
Rodríguez said the government has restored ties with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, while maintaining its relationship with CAF, the Latin American development bank. The U.S. is the largest shareholder in the IMF and the World Bank, so new lending to Caracas would go through boards where Washington holds the biggest vote. U.S. energy deals also remain subject to sanctions rules enforced by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which amended its Venezuela general licences on Monday, 28 September.
Rodríguez served as Nicolás Maduro’s vice president and has led Venezuela as acting president since U.S. forces captured him in January, the article said. The announcement doesn’t mean the pending deals have been signed or that the US$12 billion has been approved. The Fedecámaras assembly continued Friday. The federation had asked the government to address public services, credit and taxes, El Nacional reported. She also announced that the Christmas season would officially begin on 1 November, saying the early start would boost retail activity in the last quarter.
Why This Matters: Headline numbers like 320,000 jobs and US$12 billion in financing sound transformative, but no supporting detail has been published, and no one has independently verified them. Who gets the jobs, who owns the energy assets and who pays under a revised tax system will shape whether this opening reaches ordinary Venezuelans or mainly the firms at the table. Opening electricity generation to private investors while blackouts hit households hardest raises questions about public oversight and affordability—questions a published bill could answer. Until the contracts, companies and reform texts are public, citizens and lawmakers can’t weigh the trade-offs. Transparency on those documents is the first test of accountability.