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After months of decline, Venezuela has begun to reverse the cuts in its oil production, reopening wells that had been closed by the state-owned PDVSA and its partners amid an embargo imposed by the United States.
The reactivation coincides with the resumption of crude oil exports that had been nearly halted since December 2025, which had left millions of barrels stranded in tanks and vessels.
The movement, revealed by the agency Reuters in an exclusive report based on sources close to the operations, suggests a strategic shift in the management of the Venezuelan energy industry following a period of significant operational contraction.
The decline in production: A recent collapse
At the end of November last year, the total production of Venezuelan crude oil was around 1.16 million barrels per day (bpd).
However, weeks later that figure dropped sharply to about 880,000 bpd.
The situation was particularly critical in the Orinoco Oil Belt - the heart of the country's oil industry - where production fell from 675,000 to approximately 410,000 bpd.
This dramatic reduction was a direct consequence of the tightening of the U.S. embargo, which forced PDVSA and its partners to shut down numerous wells and suspend shipments due to the inability to move the accumulated crude oil.
During that period, exports were almost exclusively limited to Chevron, the only oil company authorized to operate under a special license from Washington.
But even those shipments were limited, and they did not alleviate the storage overload or the operational collapse of many facilities.
First signs of recovery
On the past Monday, two supertankers departed from Venezuelan waters loaded with approximately 1.8 million barrels each, in what could be the first shipments resulting from a supply agreement of up to 50 million barrels between Venezuela and the United States.
According to sources cited by Reuters, this departure marks the resumption of large-scale exports and allowed for the decongestion of crude oil that had been stored for weeks.
The vessels headed north, towards the Caribbean, a key region for the storage and redistribution of oil by traders, refineries, and energy companies.
What is behind this turn?
The shift in Venezuela's energy strategy cannot be understood without the political context.
The capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3 completely disrupted the political and economic landscape of the country.
Since then, Washington has promoted a new collaboration framework aimed at securing energy resources, while establishing mechanisms to monitor the allocation of revenues generated by oil.
In this context, high-ranking U.S. officials have stated that the revenues generated from the new agreement "should be used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the United States."
The agreement aims to facilitate access to Venezuelan oil and to condition its monetization on humanitarian aid and internal stabilization programs.
Chevron and the exception window
During the peak restriction months, Chevron was the only company with formal authorization to export crude oil from its joint ventures with PDVSA, making it a key player in sustaining minimal export activity.
With the recent reactivation of operations and new shipments sent, it is expected that other companies will also be able to resume activities if new licenses or other sanction relief mechanisms are granted.
This new landscape has also allowed for the reopening of fields operated by joint ventures, which had completely halted their activities due to the inability to store or sell their production.
Persistent structural challenges
Despite these signs of recovery, the Venezuelan oil industry continues to face deep structural problems.
Years of lack of investment, corruption, international sanctions, and the brain drain of skilled professionals have left much of the country's operational infrastructure in ruins.
Sector specialists estimate that to recover historical production levels—over 3 million bpd in the 2000s—investments of tens of billions of dollars would be needed, along with deep institutional reforms and a more transparent regulatory environment.
This is compounded by the deterioration of the national refineries, many of which operate well below their installed capacity, and a logistics network that urgently needs modernization.
A movement with global implications
The reactivation of Venezuelan oil has effects that extend beyond the domestic market. For years, Venezuela has been a strategic supplier for economies like China and India.
The shift towards greater cooperation with the United States could redefine geopolitical alliances and alter traditional supply routes.
For the transitional government, access to international markets represents an opportunity for economic recovery.
For the United States, Venezuelan oil is a significant alternative source amid a period of high global energy volatility and tensions with other suppliers.
The beginning of a new phase
The reopening of closed wells, the reactivation of exports, and the initiation of new bilateral agreements mark the beginning of what could be a new phase for Venezuelan oil policy.
However, the success of this process will depend on multiple factors: from internal political stability to the country's external credibility, as well as the ability to rebuild an industry vital to its economic survival.
As Reuters has pointed out in its coverage, this is a first step that breaks the inertia of stagnation, but is still far from representing a sustained recovery.
Oil is on the move again in Venezuela, but the path to normalization will still be long and complex.
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