The deal taking shape
Qatar-based UCC Oil and Gas Holding is in discussions to enter two onshore oil and gas areas in eastern Venezuela, targeting El Furrial and Jusepin in northern Monagas. People briefed on the negotiations, which are not public, said the talks point to a deeper push by the company into the country. UCC declined to comment.
PDVSA is already working with UCC at El Furrial. At a Friday briefing, PDVSA head Héctor Obregón said the Qatari player will commit a "significant investment" in infrastructure there. At the helm are Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat, brothers who partner with Jared Kushner on a planned luxury resort project in Albania.
Why these fields matter
Monagas is among Venezuela's core producing regions, and El Furrial sits within the giant North Monagas area, once the country's top output hub. That complex holds oil measured in the billions of barrels still in the ground, but lifting more will require heavy spending to refurbish wells and facilities and to revive water and gas injection that support flow rates. A stake in El Furrial would hand UCC exposure to one of PDVSA's key conventional assets.
Competition is heating up. Earlier this year, North American Blue Energy Partners clinched a sweeping deal with Venezuela and the Pentagon, narrowing the pool of projects still up for grabs. This year, Shell Plc also agreed to team up with PDVSA on both technical and funding fronts at the Carito and Pirital sites in the same part of Monagas.
The broader Gulf footprint
Speaking at a Caracas industry gathering on Sept. 29, Erik Keskula, UCC Holding Group Chief Executive Officer for Energy, said the firm is scouting "other opportunities throughout Venezuela, where we can partner with others and also move into operatorship."
Keskula added that the parent group is evaluating investments "across all industries" such as agriculture, health and infrastructure, arguing that full value from onshore energy work requires bringing that larger ecosystem. He said, "We're interested in it all," and described a scope that ranges from exploration to operating fields, heavy crude, condensate, and capturing flare gas, before adding, "We're actively pursuing a variety of opportunities across all those areas because Venezuela is just that good."
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These developments would further catalyze Venezuela's oil comeback following the Trump administration's removal of former leader Nicolás Maduro in January and its subsequent, surprising cooperation with his successor, Delcy Rodríguez. For context, Qatar has long served as a bridge between Washington and Caracas on sanctions, elections and prisoner releases, and people familiar with their relationship say Rodríguez maintains close personal relationships with members of Qatar's ruling family. One source added that, as Washington weighed Venezuela's political transition, Qatari officials pressed the Trump administration on Rodríguez's behalf.
Ties run wider. Qatar Airways began a twice-weekly Doha to Bogota and Caracas service on Nov. 4, the first Gulf carrier flying to Venezuela. Qatar likewise nurtured ties with President Donald Trump. Last year, his administration took steps to accept a Boeing 747-8 from Qatar's royal family to serve as Air Force One, and Trump's 2025 trip to Doha yielded announced commercial deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
What it means for investors
This is not a one-off. Abu Dhabi's XRG moved into Venezuela's gas sector together with UCC and BP. UCC has also publicly explored opportunities in Venezuelan gold, posting a job opening for an executive to run a gold unit in Caracas.
A Middle Eastern delegation, including UCC representatives, traveled to Caracas earlier this month to discuss investment options. The bottom line: more Gulf capital is lining up across oil, gas, mining and infrastructure as Venezuela reopens to foreign money, which can lift project throughput but also increase competition for prime acreage.
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