Venezuela’s Oil Revival Opens New Front for Power Investment

CARACAS, VENEZUELA, October 7, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As international companies prepare to invest billions of dollars in restoring Venezuela’s production, reliable electricity is emerging as a critical enabler of upstream activity – and a significant opportunity for companies able to provide power generation, gas-to-power and related infrastructure.

According to Bloomberg, Venezuela is asking oil companies to supply their own electricity for new projects, reflecting the limitations of a national grid that has suffered years of underinvestment and maintenance problems. The country currently operates around 13,000 MW of generation capacity from roughly 36,000 MW installed, while almost 90% of its thermal generation capacity is offline. Hydropower supplies most of Venezuela’s electricity, leaving the system particularly exposed to drought and other disruptions.

For an oil industry seeking to increase production from around 1.25 million barrels per day, the implications are direct. Oil wells and production facilities require dependable electricity for pumping, water injection, separation, compression, processing and transportation. Where grid supply is unreliable, restoring production can require operators to develop dedicated power solutions alongside their field redevelopment plans.

That is creating a market for captive generation – power plants built specifically to serve industrial operations – as well as gas turbines, distributed generation, electrical equipment and power-management systems. Baker Hughes has already identified power generation equipment as one of its most immediate opportunities in Venezuela, including natural gas turbines to support crude production and electrical pumps to boost output from existing wells.

Natural gas could be particularly important in linking the country’s power and upstream recovery. Venezuela has substantial gas resources, while existing projects demonstrate how domestic gas can support electricity supply. Eni, which operates the Perla field through Cardón IV alongside Repsol, reported in its 2026 Capital Markets Update that Cardón IV is consistently providing gas for more than 90% of Venezuela’s national electricity demand. Eni has also recently agreed to expand its role in Venezuela through the Junín 5 heavy-oil project, illustrating the potential for gas and oil investment to develop in parallel.

The opportunity extends beyond captive power at individual oil fields. Venezuela is also beginning to open the broader electricity sector to private investment. In June, the National Assembly gave initial approval to legislation that would allow private companies and joint ventures to participate in electricity generation and other parts of the sector. The government subsequently signed a memorandum with GE Vernova targeting 1 GW of additional power within 24 months and more than 5 GW over four years.

The scale of the oil-sector investment pipeline makes that power buildout increasingly relevant. Chevron has committed more than $7 billion to expand its Venezuelan operations, while Eni has signed a production-sharing agreement for Junín 5 that aims to increase production from around 12,000 barrels per day to as much as 400,000 bpd by 2030. Other international companies are also advancing new agreements as Venezuela seeks to restore production and attract foreign capital.

This creates an opportunity for investors and technology providers across the energy value chain. Gas-fired generation, turbines, generators, electrical equipment, grid rehabilitation, transmission, fuel infrastructure and integrated power solutions could all become part of the infrastructure required to bring Venezuela’s oil resources back into production.

These opportunities will be in focus at Venezuela Energy Week 2027, taking place February 22–25 in Caracas. The event will bring together government officials, national oil companies, international investors, operators, financiers and technology providers, with its program covering production recovery, gas-sector growth, infrastructure development and investment opportunities. Technical sessions, investment forums and bilateral meetings are designed to connect projects and capital across the sector.

For Venezuela, the recovery of oil production and the modernization of its power system are increasingly interconnected. The next phase of upstream growth will depend not only on bringing wells and fields back online, but on ensuring that the energy infrastructure behind them is capable of keeping production running.

VEW is Organized by Energy Capital & Power and taking place under the patronage of Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, PDVSA and the Ministry of Hydrocarbons.

To register click here

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