Our industry’s flagship event CERAWeek will be held in Houston this week. I was there yesterday and will be covering some of what I saw and learned in next week's edition. If you are attending, you can share your thoughts about the event with me by writing in to editorial@aapg.org.
Now, let’s examine two pieces of energy news from last week.
Shangyou Nie
Editor, Well Read
The Trump Administration Revokes Chevron’s License in Venezuela
Anton Watman/ Shutterstock.com
Last week, the Trump administration ended Chevron’s ability to operate in Venezuela by revoking its license. Chevron was the only American oil company operating there.
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s regime not bringing home migrants deported from the United States expediently enough
Venezuela having not held a free election in 2024
After returning to the White House, President Trump sent a special envoy led by diplomat Richard Grenell to Caracas to negotiate the return of Venezuelan migrants. The envoy successfully secured the release of six U.S. nationals.
According to the Financial Times, the Trump administration has revoked temporary protected status for some 600,000 migrants from Venezuela.
The Biden Administration was trying to encourage Venezuela to hold a free election and keep oil prices low by allowing more production from Venezuela to flow into the global market.
Maduro claims he won the 2024 election fairly, but opposition claims the election was rigged.
PDVSA will have difficulty maintaining its production, as Venezuelan fields hold mostly heavy crude. The fields require imported diluent to make them flow. Chevron has been the most important provider of this diluent.
Most western IOCs left Venezuela after 2007 due to sanctions during Hugo Chavez’s regime, including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. A few Chinese, Russian, and European IOCs have kept some of their operations in Venezuela, including Spanish company Repsol and Italian leader ENI.
The United States was the second largest importer of Venezuelan crude in February at 239,000 barrels per day, according to Upstream.
What they’re saying:
“We are aware of the President’s directive and will abide by any direction given by the U.S. Treasury Department to implement that directive”—Chevron spokesman Bill Turenne.
“The new United States government, intending to harm the Venezuelan people, is inflicting harm on itself by causing an increase in the price of fuel and affecting the legal security of its companies’ investments abroad, calling into question the supposed and deceptive economic freedom”—PDVSA via an online statement.
Will Chevron be able to return to Venezuela if Maduro’s government were to take back migrants more promptly?
As some U.S. Gulf Coast refineries process heavy crude from Venezuela, will they be able to replace their feedstock now that tariffs will also be placed on crude from Canada and Mexico?
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Pipeline Design Plays Critical Role in Transboundary CCS
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Libya, once a major OPEC oil producer, announced last week that it is launching its fifth-ever bid round for 22 blocks. This is the first bid round the country has held in nearly 20 years. Libyan oil and gas leaders hope the round will boost oil production back to 2 million barrels per day.
The latest bid round:
Masoud Suleiman, acting chairman of state oil company National Oil Corp. (NOC), launched the bid round at a ceremony in Tripoli on 3 March.
The new bid round will be under a production sharing agreement (PSA) model.
These 22 blocks cover a total area of 235,267 square kilometers, with roughly 55 percent offshore.
The blocks are located in the onshore Ghadames and Murzuq basins to the west, onshore parts of the Sirte Basin and Cyrenaica area to the north, and offshore parts of Sirte Basin and Sabratha area offshore.
NOC claims it has made 19 discoveries in these blocks, including seven offshore and 12 onshore, with estimated in-place reserves of 1.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
By the numbers:
As of January 2025, Libya was producing roughly 1.4 million barrels of oil per day, its highest since 2013. It hopes to return to 1.6 million barrels per day by years end.
Since 2011 when Muammar Gaddafi fell, Libya has suffered amid civil war, and oil production has been inconsistent.
Libya continues to have two governments, the Government of National Accord in the western region and the Libyan National Army in the eastern region.
In March 2021, the two sides signed a ceasefire agreement and formed an interim unity government, the Government of National Unity.
The most recent conflict involves the dispute over the control of the Central Bank of Libya.
Why it matters: As many companies are refocusing on oil and gas development and production, potential investment opportunity from a resource-rich country such as Libya provides a new access opportunity… IF security and other non-technical risks can be mitigated.
Go deeper: For details for each of these 22 bid round blocks, look here. Companies interested in the bid round can register here.
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