Rapp and Deen met with Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez in Caracas on Friday, accompanied by US Chargé d’Affaires John Barrett and Venezuelan energy sector officials. The discussions centered on creating favorable operational, regulatory, and commercial conditions to reduce investment risks and facilitate secure entry of international capital into Venezuela’s energy infrastructure. The embassy reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to strengthening the local business climate and opening concrete opportunities for American firms in national energy infrastructure development.
The diplomatic effort operates within a broader bilateral energy strategy that has already produced agreements with multiple foreign corporations. PDVSA, under director Héctor Obregón, has established partnerships with Chevron, Heeney Capital, Spain’s Repsol, Italy’s Eni, Britain’s Shell, and Argentina’s IMPSA across various hydrocarbon sectors. Repsol recently secured rights to explore gas and oil deposits in the eastern Lake Maracaibo zone in Trujillo state, while PDVSA incorporated new exploratory opportunities into the Petroquiriquire joint venture to increase light crude production.
The US delegation highlighted a memorandum of understanding between GE Vernova and state electricity company Corpoelec as a critical initial step toward grid stabilization. Delcy Rodríguez stated the agreement targets recovery of 1,000 megawatts within 24 months and over 5,000 megawatts within four years through technology incorporation and Corpoelec personnel training. The electrical infrastructure improvements are positioned as foundational for subsequent hydrocarbon industry recovery.
The US Embassy attributed Venezuela’s inflation deceleration to progress under the three-phase plan. Monthly inflation dropped to 6.3 percent in May, marking the first single-digit rate in over a year and the lowest reading in 19 months. Chargé d’Affaires Barrett characterized this decline as evidence that structural reforms aimed at attracting stable investment are producing tangible results following earlier financial turbulence. Local economists caution that Venezuela continues facing devaluation pressures and projected inflation rates among the world’s highest.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
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