Months after the U.S. removal of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Texas energy companies are striking a deal with the new Venezuelan government. Two Texas firms, Houston-based SLB (formerly Schlumberger) and Dallas-based Hunt Oil, announced major investment agreements to restore infrastructure and expand exploration on Venezuelan oil fields. Under interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, the nation has reopened its oil markets for the first time in decades, with much of that crude slated to be refined in Texas.
Karr Ingham, president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, says this is a perfect match to tap Venezuela’s massive energy resources. “Leaving 300-million barrels of crude oil locked up in a political jail is not the path to go down,” he tells KTRH. “We’re going to need all that crude oil and all of that energy sooner or later, and I look forward to the opportunity for Texas companies to start bringing that forth.”
Still, Ingham notes some smaller Texas producers are concerned about the long-term price impact if a glut of new oil from overseas comes onto the U.S. market. However, that is not likely to be an issue anytime soon, since it will be years before Venezuelan oil is out of the ground and heading to the U.S. “All in all, for global supply and consumption, the liberation of all of that Venezuelan oil for our potential use in the future is an outstanding outcome,” says Ingham.
“The opportunity for Texas companies to go to work down there, for their employees to benefit from this, it’s just a vibrant and exciting time,” he continues. “And why not? This is what we do in the great state of Texas, and we do it very well.”