Global energy heavyweights are making a conspicuous return to Venezuela. Chevron, Shell, bp, and Qatar’s UCC Holding have all confirmed senior executives for Venezuela Energy Week (VEW) 2027, signaling that the country’s oil and gas sector is drawing serious international attention again. Each of the four operators has advanced upstream investments through revised contractual terms and offshore gas licenses.
These companies are behind several of the largest upstream agreements signed in Venezuela this year, including expanded heavy oil development in the Orinoco Belt and new offshore gas licenses near Trinidad and Tobago.
Mariano Vela, Venezuela Country President at Chevron, and Javier La Rosa, President of Base Assets and Emerging Countries, join the lineup. In September, Chevron, the largest international producer in Venezuela, agreed updated terms for its three joint ventures with PDVSA and announced plans to invest more than $7 billion over five years, more than doubling joint venture output to around 600,000 barrels per day. The agreements added two greenfield areas in the Orinoco Belt to its Petroindependencia joint venture and followed an April asset swap that La Rosa said “reinforces our role in supporting regional energy security.”
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Senior representatives from Shell have also joined the conference, including Adam Lowmass, Executive Vice President and Country Chair in Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela; Cederic Cremers, President of Integrated Gas; and Barbara Blakely, Head of Corporate Relations Latin America. In June, Venezuela awarded the company the license for the first phase of the offshore Loran field, which Shell is developing alongside its Manatee project across the maritime border in Trinidad and Tobago. Shell is also advancing the Dragon gas field to supply Trinidad’s Atlantic LNG plant, and has signed agreements to develop the Carito and Pirital production units in Monagas state.
Brian Davis, Vice President of Projects at bp, and Katy Henderson-Moses, Vice President of Subsurface at bp, both responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean, will join bp’s David Campbell in Caracas. bp is operator of the Loran Phase 2 license awarded in August and is developing the cross-border Cocuina-Manakin field, which it operates on the Trinidadian side. The company is a Gold Sponsor of VEW 2027.
Erik Keskula, Group CEO for Upstream at UCC Holding, has also been confirmed. UCC Oil and Gas, the Qatari group’s upstream subsidiary, holds an equal interest in Loran Phase 2 with bp and XRG, the international investment arm of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). “Loran is a material offshore gas resource in a region with established demand and existing regional processing capacity,” Keskula said when the award was announced. UCC has since said it is in talks to enter further oil and gas areas in Venezuela.
Over four days in Caracas, VEW 2027 will combine dedicated plenary sessions with technical tracks on infrastructure integration and digital field management. Panel discussions will address workforce development and the role of Venezuelan companies in new projects, including Youth in Energy sessions for early-career professionals. The landmark event closes on February 25 with site visits to Venezuela’s world-class upstream and downstream assets.
Organized by Energy Capital & Power and taking place under the patronage of Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, PDVSA and the Ministry of Hydrocarbons, Venezuela Energy Week 2027 will convene in Caracas on February 22–25.
To register, visit www.venezuelaenergyweek.com.
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For Press and Media enquires contact Felipe Colino at felipe@energycapitalpower.com
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Why it matters: The presence of top executives from Chevron, Shell, bp, and UCC Holding at VEW 2027 underscores a renewed wave of foreign investment in Venezuela’s energy sector after years of decline. With billions of dollars committed and major offshore gas licenses awarded, this conference signals that Venezuela is re-entering the global energy map as a viable partner for large-scale upstream projects.
