TotalEnergies signs oil deal with Venezuela after 2022 exit

Venezuela Interim President Delcy Rodríguez on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding with French oil and gas company TotalEnergies ↘ 0.84%, according to Reuters, citing local media. No details about the agreement were immediately available.reuters+1

A Reversal for TotalEnergies

The deal marks a notable shift for TotalEnergies, which exited Venezuela in 2022 as part of a strategic pivot away from heavy and high-sulfur crude. As recently as February, CEO Patrick Pouyanné said returning to Venezuela was "too costly and too harmful" and that the country was "not a priority" for the company. TotalEnergies had operated in Venezuela since the 1990s before dissolving its subsidiaries there.cnbc+1

A Wave of Oil Agreements

The memorandum is the latest in a flurry of energy deals struck between multinational companies and Venezuela's post-Maduro government. Earlier this month, Chevron ↘ 0.97%, Eni ↘ 1.48%, and GE Vernova ↗ 1.67% signed agreements at a ceremony in Caracas overseen by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Rodríguez. Chevron committed to investing $7 billion over five years and plans to roughly double its Venezuelan output to about 600,000 barrels per day.reuters+2

Those deals followed a broader U.S.-Venezuela oil agreement announced by the White House in late August, which granted 100-year concessions over 17 oil fields with proven reserves of roughly 65 billion barrels to North American Blue Energy Partners, a privately held company in which the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital holds a 35 percent equity stake. The arrangement gives the U.S. government the right to purchase 20 percent of production at cost for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.whitehouse+1

Questions Remain

The expanding roster of foreign energy companies entering Venezuela comes amid criticism over the terms and transparency of the deals. Analysts have raised concerns about sovereignty and the duration of the concessions — U.S. sources describe 100-year terms while Venezuelan officials have cited 25 years. The pace of finalized agreements has also drawn scrutiny, with some projects facing delays even as memorandums of understanding proliferate.globalbankingandfinance+2