BP has announced plans to develop a large offshore gasfield in Venezuela, responding to Donald Trump's call for oil companies to help rebuild the country's fossil fuel industry. The London-listed company will partner with two oil firms that have close ties to the Trump administration for the second phase of the Loran gasfield.
This development represents one of the first large-scale foreign investments in Venezuela since the US removed its leader, Nicolás Maduro, in January. BP's chief executive, Meg O’Neill, described the licence as "an important step forward" in collaboration with Caracas.
One partner is a Qatari company owned by the Al-Khayyat brothers, who are working with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner on a resort in Albania. The other is the overseas investment arm of the UAE’s national oil company, run by industry minister Sultan Al Jaber, who previously pledged to Trump that the Gulf state would significantly increase its investments in the US energy sector.
BP is among a few European oil firms returning to the region after Trump encouraged foreign oil companies to invest in Venezuela's oil resources. Rival company Shell secured a licence for the first phase of the Loran field earlier this summer, and Caracas is also in discussions with Italian oil company Eni.