FACTBOX-What's the status of international oil companies in Venezuela?

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Here are key facts about international oil companies in Venezuela, a country with vast oil reserves but dilapidated energy infrastructure.

In the 2000s, then President Hugo Chávez expropriated assets from several foreign oil companies, strengthening state-owned PDVSA’s control over the country's oilfields.

After capturing President Nicolas Maduro in January, the United States eased sanctions on Venezuela's energy sector this month, issuing general licenses that allow global energy companies to operate oil and gas projects in the OPEC country.

BP

In 2024, Venezuela granted BP BP.L and Trinidad and Tobago's National Gas Company an exploration and production licence for the Venezuelan part of the yet-to-produce cross-border Manakin-Cocuina gas field.

The U.S. in April revoked a previous licence it had given the two companies, which stalled the project's planning.

BP has welcomed the U.S. decision to issue general licenses, saying it believes it supports its efforts to move forward with Manakin‑Cocuina.

CHEVRON

Chevron CVX.N negotiated to stay in Venezuela and form partnerships with PDVSA under Chavez's enforced migration to joint ventures dominated by the state company.

Four Chevron-PDVSA joint oil ventures are producing between 240,000 and 250,000 barrels per day of the heavy crude grades that are in demand by U.S. Gulf Coast refiners.

Chevron exported around 150,000 bpd of crude from Venezuela to the U.S. Gulf Coast in November, and some 100,000 bpd in December, according to ship monitoring data.

The company, which said it could grow its gross production in Venezuela by about 50% in the short term, can process an additional 100,000 barrels per day of the country's crude through U.S. Gulf and West coast refineries. It currently processes 50,000 bpd of Venezuelan crude at its refineries.

CHINESE COMPANIES

China is a major oil buyer and investor in Venezuela's energy sector. State-owned China National Petroleum Corp and Sinopec have joint ventures in Venezuela.

Private company China Concord Resources Corp planned last year to invest more than $1 billion in two oilfields to produce 60,000 bpd by the end of 2026, Reuters reported.

U.S. government officials have now said companies from geopolitical rivals China, Russia and Iran are no longer welcome in Venezuela.

CONOCOPHILLIPS

Conoco COP.N for years has tried to recover some $12 billion from the expropriation of its assets in the Chavez era.

CEO Ryan Lance said this month that the company remains focused on recovering money owed under existing legal judgments in Venezuela.

The company said it has so far collected $794 million in connection to one arbitration award, with collection actions still ongoing.

ENI

Italy's Eni ENI.MI produces gas from the Perla offshore field, which is a 50-50 joint venture with Spain's Repsol operated by the local company Cardón IV. Gas output is used for Venezuela's electricity generation.

Eni said Venezuela owed it $2.3 billion as of June 2025, more than in the previous year, due to the U.S. decision last March to revoke all licenses to recover money owed via PDVSA crude oil cargoes. This had risen to about $3 billion by the end of 2025, a source at Eni said.

EXXONMOBIL

ExxonMobil no longer has a presence in Venezuela, after it declined to migrate projects to joint ventures with PDVSA.

In 2023, Exxon said Venezuela owed it $984.5 million in compensation following lengthy international arbitration cases stemming from 2007, when Exxon's oil projects Cerro Negro and La Ceiba were expropriated.

A U.S. court in September recognized Venezuela's obligation to pay the sum.

Exxon CEO Darren Woods, who in January called Venezuela uninvestable without major reforms, has highlighted his company's technological capability to potentially extract Venezuela's traditionally expensive heavy crude at a lower cost.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said this month that Exxon was in talks with the Venezuelan government.

MAUREL & PROM

French oil producer Maurel & Prom MAUP.PA said this month that its activities in the Urdaneta Oeste field, where its M&P Iberoamerica business holds a 40% stake, are running satisfactorily and that it was ready for the next phase of field development. Gross production at the field averaged about 21,000 bpd in January.

The U.S. government included the French company in a general licence this month.

REPSOL

Repsol REP.MC holds stakes in a mix of producing and yet-to-produce onshore and offshore oil and gas fields in Venezuela, including Petroquiriquire and Cardón IV West, which it runs with Eni ENI.MI.

In March 2025, the U.S. told Repsol a licence it had granted the company to operate in Venezuela had been revoked. Under a previous permit, Repsol agreed to receive oil from PDVSA as debt repayment.

Repsol is owed 4.55 billion euros ($5.37 billion) by the Venezuelan state, including commercial debt tied to oil and gas supplies and 947 million euros in financing for Petroquiriquire. It has written down around 3.6 billion euros of this debt over several years.

SHELL

Shell SHEL.L was set to operate the yet-to-produce Dragon gas field in Venezuelan waters together with Trinidad and Tobago's National Gas Company, with output sent to Trinidad to be turned into liquefied natural gas.

However, the project remains largely frozen. Shell and BP are shareholders in Trinidad's Atlantic LNG facility, which needs increased gas supplies.

In October, the U.S. government authorised Shell and Trinidad to restart planning for Dragon, but Venezuela later suspended all energy agreements with Trinidad.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan said this month that he hoped Dragon would start producing within three years.

A Shell spokesperson said Shell welcomed the issuance of the general licenses and was reviewing them to understand exactly what they meant for its potential projects in Venezuela.

ROSNEFT

In 2020, due to the risk of secondary U.S. sanctions, Russia's oil giant Rosneft sold its stakes in Venezuelan projects, such as Petromonagas, Petroperija, Boqueron, Petromiranda, and Petrovictoria, with estimated equity value of around $5 billion, to a not widely known state company Roszarubezhneft.

($1 = 0.8572 euros)