January 25, 2026
Documents and information issued by the London Stock Exchange Group reported that a tanker chartered by the “Trafigura” company sailed on Sunday from the Venezuelan port of Jose, carrying approximately one million barrels of heavy Venezuelan crude oil, heading to the Louisiana offshore oil port in the United States.
According to Reuters, this is the first shipment heading directly to the United States as part of an agreement to supply 50 million barrels reached this month between Caracas and Washington.
In a related context, the head of the giant Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, stated that Venezuela is looking forward to raising its oil production by 18% this year, through planned reforms that will fully open the field to private sector investors.
Hector Obregón explained: “We had a law that was not keeping pace with what we need as an industry,” pointing out that the goal for 2026 “is to grow by at least 18%,” knowing that current production amounts to about one million barrels per day.
Last Thursday, the Venezuelan parliament began discussing a draft law aimed at reducing state control over the country’s huge oil sector, in the first fundamental reform of its kind since the late socialist president Hugo Chavez nationalized parts of the oil industry in 2007.
The draft law aims to provide new opportunities for private companies to invest in the oil sector, and to establish international arbitration mechanisms to resolve investment-related disputes.
