In a coordinated sequence that reshapes Venezuela’s energy landscape, the United States and Venezuela’s interim government moved within 24 hours to unlock hydrocarbons investment. On 10 June the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General Licence 50B, superseding a more restrictive February measure, and authorised transactions involving Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) for six international firms: Chevron, Repsol, Eni, Maurel & Prom, BP, and Shell. The following day, Caracas signed five concrete agreements with Shell, granting the British major a licence to explore and export natural gas, most notably from the Loran field—a massive offshore reservoir straddling Trinidad and Tobago’s maritime border that holds an estimated seven trillion cubic feet of gas.

The abrupt turnaround was enabled by a new hydrocarbons law rushed through in January by interim President Delcy Rodríguez. Under intense pressure from Washington after a US military operation captured Nicolás Maduro, Rodríguez’s administration dismantled decades of statist control to attract foreign capital. The reform had already yielded preliminary accords with BP and Spain’s Repsol; Shell’s definitive agreements now signal that major players are prepared to bet on the country’s stability. Viewed from Caracas, the deals offer a lifeline to an economy crippled by mismanagement and sanctions, and a political imperative to demonstrate that the transition can deliver tangible benefits.

Loran is the strategic centrepiece. Long hampered by political chaos and unresolved territorial sensitivities with Port of Spain, the field’s development now appears feasible. BP has also expressed interest in Loran and the adjacent Cocuina-Manakin project, hinting at a broader regional gas play. Trinidad and Tobago officials, who have struggled with declining domestic output, see cross-border co-operation as a chance to secure feedstock for their liquefied natural gas plants, potentially transforming eastern Caribbean energy dynamics.

From Washington, the calibrated sanctions relief serves multiple objectives: shoring up a friendly interim government, countering Chinese and Russian influence, and expanding global energy supply at a moment of geopolitical strain. Analysts in London caution that European majors, while seizing first-mover advantage, remain exposed to residual risks—a fragile political settlement, the spectre of corruption, and the immense capital required to rehabilitate dilapidated infrastructure. The interim government’s pledge to hold free elections and restore rule of law is the unspoken covenant underpinning these deals. If that holds, the confluence of US licensing and domestic reform could reverse two decades of production collapse and finally unlock Venezuela’s dormant hydrocarbon wealth.