Ex-Chevron executive eyes post-sanctions Venezuela

Neither the climate movement nor Opec constraints will deter Venezuela from attracting potential investment in anticipation of a post-sanctions oil revival, former Chevron executive Ali Moshiri says.

"Whether or not the green movement that is pushing oil to the side is right or wrong is not an issue for Venezuela at the moment," said Moshiri, chairman and president of Houston-based independent Amos Global Energy and Chevron's former president of Africa and Latin America exploration and production. "Venezuela needs to jumpstart the economy, and it's not going to come from tourism or from any other sector except the oil sector. That's the reality."

Speaking on a 9 March webinar organized by Caracas-based Venecapital, Moshiri said Amos Global Energy issued a private placement memorandum for Venezuela that he says swiftly raised $400mn from investment and hedge funds in New York.

"We are going to raise another $600mn from the public sector," said Moshiri, who retired from the US oil major in 2017. "There is a lot of faith to invest in Venezuela, especially in the energy sector."

He pointed to Chevron's continued presence as a sign that big oil companies are still keen on Venezuela too.

The private capital partnered with capital from multilateral agencies and other public entities will be deployed as soon as sanctions are lifted. "We will be ready on day one."

Black to green Venezuela can fulfill its own spending needs by restoring oil production to 1.5mn b/d with capital investment of $5bn-$8bn, without borrowing from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank or other countries for investment, Moshiri said. "It should look at the private sector and public sector, and they are willing to provide that investment."

Venezuela can restore oil production to 2.5mn b/d with $20bn-$25bn in investment by around 2028, he predicts. "By 2030 Venezuela can move from the oil sector to the green sector, and have a balance of that."

Venezuela is currently producing around 500,000 b/d , far from the 3mn b/d of the 1990s.

Moshiri does not see Opec as a roadblock. "Potentially Venezuela is not going to incrementally increase its oil production. It is going to replace what it has lost. Therefore Opec — with production of 31mn b/d to 33mn b/d — Venezuela needs to get its share of that."

Moshiri highlighted the challenges of rebuilding Venezuelan oil services, infrastructure and human capital to ensure that projects can be executed. "You don't want to bring in a bunch of expats. You need to attract all these Venezuelans to come back and work in the oil sector."

He made only passing reference to Venezuela's national oil company PdV , remarking that the "era of domination" by NOCs is over.

Chevron remains in Venezuela under a restricted US sanctions waiver. During Moshiri's tenure, the company built up and controversially sustained its Venezuelan operations after peers led by ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips pulled out.

The company's main local asset is the PetroPiar integrated heavy crude upgrading project.

Venezuela has been subject to US financial sanctions since August 2017 and oil sanctions since January 2019. The US administration of President Joe Biden has signaled that it is in no hurry to ease the sanctions, although a review of its predecessor's policies toward Caracas is underway.

By Patricia Garip

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