Foto Cortesía
The intervention by the United States in Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro put the Productive Participation Contracts (CPP) on hold, which were promoted by Delcy Rodríguez during her time as Minister of Oil. These agreements were devised to open the oil business to private companies amid international sanctions and the deep operational crisis of PDVSA.
Between 2024 and 2025, the state-owned oil company awarded around 20 contracts to approximately 16 companies, both Venezuelan and foreign, under a more flexible scheme than the mixed companies established during Hugo Chávez’s era. The intent was to attract investment and boost production, but many of the companies benefitting lacked proven experience in the exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons.
The allocation of these contracts included strategic areas of the Orinoco Oil Belt and fields in the Lake Maracaibo basin. Several awards went to less-known firms or those connected to entrepreneurs with close political ties to Chavismo, raising questions about the transparency of the process and the criteria used to assign key assets of the oil industry.
Among the names linked to this setup are foreign entrepreneurs with historical ties to power in Caracas, such as Harry Sargeant III, as well as business circles connected to former regional allies of Chavismo. Analysts and industry sources describe the scheme as a “petroleum piñata” distributed in the final months of the regime’s absolute control over the oil business.
With the new political scenario and Washington’s announcement to take a central role in the management and marketing of Venezuelan oil, many of these contracts find themselves in legal limbo. The uncertainty surrounding their validity, potential annulment, or renegotiation reflects the fragile institutional framework of the Venezuelan energy sector and anticipates a dispute over control of oil resources in the new phase that emerges after Maduro’s fall.