Oil rises before the oil summit at the White House after the crisis in Venezuela

Oil shakes off doubts and maintains Thursday’s bullish path. The price of a barrel of Brentthe reference for Europe, is trading in the average European session at $62.57 per barrel, 0.94% higher, in line with the West Texas, which rises 0.94%, and is above $58. The price of black gold experienced a rebound of more than 3% due to the organization by the Trump Administration of a summit of oil companies this Friday at the White House, which will be attended by the Spanish Repsol, to address the situation in Venezuela.

The US Government plans to maintain control over Venezuelan crude oil exports for an indefinite period as part of a plan for the reconstruction of the country’s economy and that Venezuela can be an important supplier of oil to the world and an ally of the United States. In this sense, Repsol will ask the Trump Government to resume Venezuela’s crude oil exportsan activity that it has not been able to carry out since in March the Donald Trump Administration revoked, with effect from May 27, the license it had in force for this purpose.

As reported Bloombergciting a person with knowledge of the matter, the Spanish oil company will present the request to US officials in the coming days. Repsol would like to restore that trade, the same source stated, and the company directed by Josu Jon Imaz would export crude that Venezuela has stored. Sources from the energy company consulted by ‘Europa Press’ declined to comment on the matter.

President Donald Trump himself plans to participate in this Friday’s meeting with the executives of the main oil companiesas confirmed by a White House official to Fox Business. In this sense, the US Secretary of State for Energy, Chris Wright, pointed out that the expansion of the American oil company Chevrona company that operates in Venezuela, and the role of the United States in the Caribbean country could come “quite quickly.”

“We will probably see rapid growth of Chevron’s activities there. We will see Conoco (Phillips), Exxon and dozens of other American companies immediately asking themselves: ‘What constructive role can we play?’ How can we contribute a little to existing operations?’ They will work to analyze the situation of the industry and what advice and productive help they can provide in this regard“he added in statements to FoxBusiness.

All of this would occur after the turn of events since last January 3, after the intervention by the Government of Donald Trump in Venezuela, announcing his decision to control oil exports indefinitely, and the capture and overthrow of Nicolás Maduro as president of the Caribbean country.

Revocation of permits in March

At the end of March, the US Administration decided to revoke the permits and exemptions granted to several oil companies, including Repsol, to export crude oil from Venezuelawith the deadline for the end of its operations of May 27, which was met when that date arrived. Among the companies affected, in addition to the Spanish one, were the French Maurel et Prom, or the Italian Eni.

Repsol is present in Venezuela through its participations in gas license entities (Cardón IV, etc.) and in crude oil mixed companies (Petroquiriquire and others). The country represents 15% of the company’s total proven reserves, with more than 250 million barrels oil equivalents. Despite the tightening of crude oil, Repsol has maintained its gas activity in the country, which concentrates most of the local business. In fact, represents more than 80% of its activity in Venezuela and was not subject, in those terms, to the restrictions applied to oil.

The heritage exhibition of Repsol in Venezuela as of June 30 was 330 million euros, compared to the 504 million euros it amounted to at the end of 2024. This figure fundamentally included the financing granted to its subsidiary companies Venezuelans, investment in Cardón IV and accounts receivable with PDVSA. Repsol’s average net production in Venezuela in the first half reached 70,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared to 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the same period in 2024.

On repeated occasions, after the suspension of the license in March, the CEO of Repsol, Josu Jon Imaz, has insisted on maintaining “a constructive and totally transparent dialogue” with the authorities, “including the United States”, with the aim of trying to “guarantee a stable framework” for the group’s activities in Venezuela, thus being able to return to export hydrocarbons as a form of compensation for the historical debts that PDVSA maintains with it.

“When I talk about a stable framework for activities, of course, it includes mechanisms viable to monetize our production“said the manager last October during a conference with analysts to present the results for the first nine months of 2025.