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, and expects about US$12 billion in public and private financing over two years. She spoke in Caracas at the opening of the 82nd annual assembly of Fedecámaras, the main federation of business chambers.
The numbers are big. The details are thin.
The Deals and the Money
Rodríguez said the 105 signed and pending agreements could create about 320,000 jobs within four years, TalCual reported. She 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 or named the companies behind them. The jobs, production and exchange-rate figures are government numbers that couldn’t be independently checked.
Private money is already moving, at least in one case. A day earlier, California-based Pacific Coast Energy Company announced agreements with state oil firm PDVSA worth about US$3.5 billion, TalCual reported. The company said it took over the Delta and Cabimas oil blocks, with output starting at about 19,300 barrels a day. It aims to double that within six months and reach a peak of 150,000 to 160,000 barrels a day.
Rodríguez said the government has restored ties with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, while keeping its relationship with CAF, the Latin American development bank. She gave no breakdown by lender or private bank. The money, she said, should reach large, medium and small firms, as well as entrepreneurs.
Dollarization Rejected, Reforms Promised
Some business leaders pressed for the U.S. dollar to become Venezuela’s official currency. Rodríguez said no. “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.
She promised a tax reform to “harmonise” the tax burden but offered no date. A reform of the electricity law would follow “in the coming days, weeks,” and no later than this year. The planned law would let private companies invest in power generation, transmission and distribution. The government hasn’t published the text of either reform.
The power sector shows the pressure. Venezuela has faced protests over blackouts that can exceed 10 hours, TalCual reported. Rodríguez blamed twin earthquakes on 24 June for damaging 800 megawatts of capacity and said 600 megawatts have been restored. She said agreements with General Electric and the company INSA would add 7,400 megawatts over time. She also announced that the Christmas season would officially begin on 1 November, arguing that the early start would lift retail activity in the last quarter.
Sanctions and Washington’s Vote
Rodríguez was Nicolás Maduro’s vice president and has led Venezuela as acting president since his capture by U.S. forces in January, the article said. The energy opening after his capture continues. But U.S. energy deals remain subject to U.S. sanctions rules, enforced by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which last amended its Venezuela general licences on 28 September. The U.S. is also the largest shareholder in the IMF and the World Bank, so new lending to Caracas would pass through boards where Washington holds the biggest vote.
The announcement doesn’t mean the pending deals have been signed or that the US$12 billion has been approved. The Fedecámaras assembly continued on Friday. The federation had asked the government to address public services, credit and taxes, El Nacional reported.
Why This Matters:
Venezuela is trying to rebuild its economy by inviting in private capital, and the early signals favor markets over command. Rodríguez turned down dollarization, but she’s also courting international banks, reopening lender relationships and promising to let private firms into the power grid. Whether that holds depends on what hasn’t been shown yet: contract texts, company names, tax and electricity bills, and any independent check of the jobs and production claims. Investors will weigh those gaps against sanctions rules and Washington’s veto-sized influence over multilateral lending.
Promises of 320,000 jobs are easy to make. Enforceable property rights and predictable rules are what actually bring capital in, and those remain to be demonstrated.