News

Venezuela opens oil and gas sector to full private participation

25 February 2026

Key takeaways

On January 29, 2026, Venezuela enacted amendments to its Organic Hydrocarbons Law to expand private sector participation in the hydrocarbons industry.

The reform allows private companies to engage directly in upstream activities and to commercialize hydrocarbons and related products, reversing prior rules that reserved these activities largely for state-owned entities and state‑controlled joint ventures.

Overall, the amendment brings Venezuela’s upstream legal framework significantly closer to international standards.

On January 29, 2026, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved a reform of the Organic Hydrocarbons Law (the "Hydrocarbons Law Amendment"). The Hydrocarbons Law Amendment broadens the scope for private sector participation in the Venezuelan hydrocarbons sector by permitting private companies to conduct upstream hydrocarbon activities (exploration, production, and initial transportation and storage) (“Primary Activities”) in Venezuela, as well as to commercialize natural hydrocarbons and derived products. Before this amendment, Primary Activities could only be carried out by wholly-owned state entities (such as PDVSA) or joint ventures in which the State was majority (and controlling) shareholder. The previous legislation reserved the right to commercialize crude oil exclusively to wholly-owned state companies. The Hydrocarbons Law Amendment brings Venezuela's legal framework for upstream hydrocarbon activities significantly closer to international standards in several areas. We summarize the key changes introduced by the Hydrocarbons Law Amendment in this alert.

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Authored by Bruno Ciuffetelli, Ben Sulaiman, Gonzalo Rodriguez-Matos, Mariana S. Avendaño, and Johari Adjei.