PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela, SA) is Venezuela's state-owned oil company. It was nationalised under Hugo Chávez in 2007, when foreign firms had oilfields and other assets whisked away. Claims worth a combined $60bn have since been filed against Venezuela and PDVSA in American and international tribunals. In 2019 a court ordered Nicolás Maduro to pay $9bn to ConocoPhillips; the sum has since risen to $12bn including interest. In total, Venezuela owes $22bn to oil companies.
The company has a workforce of around 70,000 and is largely run by the armed forces. It has suffered a huge brain drain: tens of thousands of skilled workers, from engineers to geologists, have left the country, many for Canada. To form viable joint ventures with Western firms, PDVSA would have to be reformed wholesale and may not be able to serve as a capable partner for many years.
After Mr Maduro's capture in January 2026, PDVSA confirmed it was in talks with America on oil sales. Christopher Wright, America's energy secretary, said the United States would "market the crude coming out of Venezuela...indefinitely". Chevron, the only American major still present in the country, may agree to expand some operations, but other oil firms have not forgotten past expropriations and the country's instability, legal system, security risks and damaged economy remain off-putting.
On January 22nd 2026 the National Assembly gave initial approval to changes to the hydrocarbons law, which currently favours PDVSA. The reform would give private companies more control over the production and sale of oil, cut some royalties and allow independent arbitration of disputes. The changes are a priority for Trump, though Venezuela's president retains controlling power over the sector.
Much of Venezuela's reserves are "extra heavy" crude in the Orinoco region's bitumen belt—too viscous to flow like conventional oil, making extraction costly. Citgo, PDVSA's America-based refining subsidiary designed to process this heavy crude, was won in a court-ordered auction in November 2025 by Elliott Management, a hedge fund run by Paul Singer. Oil-services firms including Halliburton, SLB and Baker Hughes are eager to return, and the Orinoco belt has abandoned wells that can be reopened with modest investment. Tens of billions of dollars in defaulted sovereign and PDVSA bonds now trade, in effect, as an option on future oil output.
So live that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.