BP has agreed to develop the second phase of Venezuela's offshore Loran gasfield in partnership with two firms closely linked to the Trump administration, marking one of the first large-scale foreign energy investments in the country since Nicolás Maduro was removed from power in January 2026. The London-listed company will act as operator alongside Abu Dhabi's XRG and Qatar's UCC Oil and Gas Holding, according to Euronews, which reported that the three companies will each hold equal stakes in the project. The agreement is still subject to regulatory approvals before work can begin.
The move follows Donald Trump's public appeal for international oil companies to invest at least $100bn (£74bn) in rebuilding Venezuela's fossil fuel sector once the former president had been ousted. BP's arrival in the country comes shortly after Shell secured a licence earlier in the summer to develop the first phase of the same Loran field, and as Caracas holds separate talks with the Italian firm Eni over further oil projects.
Who is BP partnering with on the project?
BP's two partners both have notable ties to figures around the current US administration. UCC Oil and Gas Holding is owned by the Al-Khayyat brothers, Syrian-born billionaires who have been working with Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, on a separate and contentious venture. The other partner, XRG, is the overseas investment arm of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and is run by the UAE's energy minister, Sultan Al Jaber, who pledged in 2025 that the Gulf state would expand its investment in the US energy sector more than sixfold, to $440bn, over the following decade.
How does this fit into Venezuela's post-Maduro energy opening?
Venezuela is thought to hold some of the world's largest crude reserves and, in the late 1990s, was producing more than 3.5 million barrels of oil a day, ranking among the top ten crude producers globally. A quarter-century of underinvestment, mismanagement and corruption dragged output down to roughly one million barrels a day before Maduro's removal, though production has since climbed to about 1.2 million barrels a day, pushing exports to US refineries to their highest level since 2019.
The political backdrop to this recovery has shifted rapidly. According to our earlier reporting, Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez overhauled the country's senior military leadership in March 2026, replacing commanders and dismissing a defence minister seen as close to Maduro amid mounting US pressure and economic strain — part of the broader transition that has since opened the door to renewed foreign investment in the country's energy industry.
The reopening also represents a sharp reversal of prior US policy. In April 2025, the Trump administration had revoked licences previously granted for Shell's Dragon gas project and a comparable BP venture in the region, according to . Shell's Dragon project, part of the same cross-border gas basin, was already progressing through a separate US licensing process by late 2025, underscoring that Venezuela's offshore gas sector has been reopening in gradual stages rather than all at once.
How big is the Loran gasfield?
The second phase of Loran alone is estimated to hold more than four trillion cubic feet of proven gas resources, while the wider Loran-Manatee accumulation is thought to contain around ten trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas in total, according to Euronews. BP has said it intends to develop the two phases of the field in parallel rather than sequentially, a departure from the staged approach taken with rival projects in the same basin.
What has BP said about the agreement?
BP's chief executive, Meg O'Neill, described the licence as a significant milestone in the company's relationship with the Venezuelan government.
"an important step forward" in the company's collaboration with Caracas, which "reflects the progress we have made together"
O'Neill, a US-born former ExxonMobil executive who only took charge of BP a month before the licence was granted, framed the deal as building on the company's long history in the region.
BP has a longstanding presence in the region and deep experience developing major gas resources. Together, these agreements provide a strong foundation to progress Venezuela's offshore gas potential and unlock the next phase of development.
BP is among only a handful of European oil majors to have re-entered the Venezuelan basin since Maduro's removal. The US firms ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have begun exploring opportunities in the country but have moved more cautiously, while Chevron remained active throughout as a minority partner to Venezuela's state oil company, continuing to produce crude even during the sanctions era that followed the industry's 2007 nationalisation.
What happens next?
Alongside the Loran licence, BP has signed a memorandum of understanding covering exploration at the Carúpano East Block, according to Euronews. Both the Loran phase two development and the Carúpano exploration work are expected to proceed in parallel once the necessary regulatory approvals are secured, though no firm timeline has yet been confirmed for when those approvals will be completed.
Key Facts
- BP will operate the second phase of Venezuela's offshore Loran gasfield alongside Abu Dhabi's XRG and Qatar's UCC Oil and Gas Holding, each holding an equal stake.
- The deal is one of the first large-scale foreign investments in Venezuela since Maduro's removal from power in January 2026.
- Loran phase two is estimated to hold over four trillion cubic feet of gas, part of a wider ten trillion cubic feet accumulation across the Loran-Manatee field.
- The licence remains subject to regulatory approvals, and BP has also signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the Carúpano East Block.
- Venezuelan oil output has risen to around 1.2 million barrels a day, lifting exports to US refineries to their highest level since 2019.
