The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, stated this Friday that the recent agreements closed with international companies will allow the country to increase its energy capacity and consolidate its presence in the global market.
During an event with workers from the oil sector broadcasted by Venezuelan state television (VTV), Rodríguez emphasized the significance of the contracts signed with private companies and stressed that these alliances open a different phase for the hydrocarbon industry in Venezuela.
"These contracts will mark Venezuela in its energy development, positioning it in the international energy formula," the official pointed out, who presented these understandings as the result of a dialogue process based on consensus between the parties.
Rodríguez described the agreements as "an extraordinary expression of how through negotiation, mutual respect for a 'win-win' agreement, (they can) today look to the future of Venezuela."
In this context, the acting president expressed her gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump, "for resuming an energy relationship that dates back to 1859" and insisted that the discrepancies between Caracas and Washington must be resolved "through diplomacy and negotiation."
As she explained, the energy roadmap will allow Venezuela not only to increase crude oil pumping but also to advance in gas expansion and boost the petrochemical industry, with the goal of transforming the country into a producing and exporting power.
The Paradox of Venezuelan Reserves
The Venezuelan leader has emphasized the recent evolution of oil production and recalled that in December a extraction of 1.2 million barrels per day was reached.
In this regard, Rodríguez highlighted the contradiction between the volume of Venezuelan reserves and the position the country occupies in the ranking of exporters, particularly underscoring the effort made by workers in the industry.
"Venezuela is the country with the largest oil reserves on the planet, but it is number 20 in the position of exporting country. What good are those riches if we do not develop them? We want to be the country with the largest reserves, yes, but we also want to be a producing power and for that production to translate into the happiness of the Venezuelan people, of the workers in the industry," she stated.
Energy recovery and social welfare
On the other hand, the president has detailed that the conversations to finalize the new agreements lasted for months and has emphasized that the ultimate goal is for the reactivation of the energy sector to have a direct impact on the quality of life of the citizens.
"It has been arduous months of negotiations, arduous, difficult, but we never lost sight of the horizon; our horizon is the happiness of our people, that our workers have better salaries, that their families live better, that hospitals are equipped, that schools have quality education," she emphasized.
Rodríguez has linked this strategy with her proposal for the reconstruction of the welfare state and has highlighted the agreement reached with the United States. "We want and have focused on making the welfare state conceived by Bolívar, in his speech in Angostura, a reality, the greatest sum of possible happiness; that is what inspired us during these months of arduous negotiations and we reached a binational agreement with the Government of the United States," she added.
Objective: gas and petrochemical power
In relation to the contracts recently signed, the president has stressed that their scope goes beyond the increase in oil pumping and is also aimed at the development of new fields, as well as the reinforcement of other segments of the energy chain.
"They will mark Venezuela in its energy development, positioning it in the international energy formula. We are signing to develop green fields, we are marking not only the future of Venezuela but also the contribution that Venezuela will make to the world, to international energy security, to the balance of the world economy," she indicated.
At the same time, Rodríguez has defended the aspiration for Venezuela to consolidate itself as a gas and petrochemical power. In this regard, she has recalled that when she took over the Hydrocarbons portfolio, she set the goal of turning the country into a gas exporter, a goal that, as she has specified, is already beginning to become a reality with the first sales abroad.
Specifically, the president has placed the number of energy agreements signed in recent dates at 50 and has highlighted that their implementation will have repercussions on crude oil production, the takeoff of the gas sector, and the recovery of national petrochemicals.
Arrived at this point, he has once again praised the ability of oil workers to restore production after the most critical moments and has compared them to "the phoenix" for their ability to rise against adversity, attributing to the working class a good part of the effort that made it possible to reach the 1.2 million barrels per day recorded in December, an achievement he has described as "self-effort."
The Venezuelan leader has also advanced that throughout this year new activities related to drilling and the manufacturing of supplies for the oil sector will begin to be appreciated, especially in the west of the country and in the Orinoco Oil Belt. In her view, this process will help to energize different branches of the economy and will open up job opportunities, especially for young people and for those who emigrated and are considering returning.
The announcements come after Caracas and Washington made public last week an agreement described as "historic," aimed at facilitating new investments and boosting Venezuelan crude production.
Five days later, Venezuela formalized the new alliances with private operators. The plan includes the development of 17 fields considered strategic, with an estimated potential of 65 billion barrels of oil, an investment exceeding 100 billion dollars and tax revenues of more than 209 billion dollars for the State, according to Venezuelan state television.