Baker Hughes partners to boost Venezuela’s gas and oil infrastructure

Baker Hughes has signed two agreements to support Venezuela’s gas and oil sector, marking a significant step in the country’s energy infrastructure development. The first agreement involves a strategic alliance with PDVSA, Lindsayca, and Fulcrum LNG to upgrade gas production, processing, transportation, and commercialization infrastructure. The partnership also aims to explore future LNG export opportunities, potentially paving the way for Venezuela’s first LNG exports.

Baker Hughes Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli highlighted the goal of developing an integrated gas value chain to transform Venezuela’s substantial natural gas resources into reliable domestic supply and future export opportunities. In the near term, the partners will work with PDVSA to identify infrastructure projects needed to meet internal gas requirements and support domestic power generation. Over the medium and long term, they plan to assess the development of new midstream and LNG infrastructure for domestic and international markets.

The second agreement is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with New Stratus Energy, focusing on the future development of oil and gas resources in Venezuela. Under this MOU, Baker Hughes will provide access to technologies and services covering subsurface evaluation, drilling, production, processing, digital solutions, emissions reduction, power generation, oil and gas monetization, and LNG.

The agreements build on Baker Hughes’ over six decades of operations in Venezuela, where the company has an installed base of more than 1,200 oil production systems, the largest artificial-lift footprint in the country, flexible pipe infrastructure, and around 240 turbomachinery units across 23 sites. The alliance combines Baker Hughes’ technologies with Lindsayca’s engineering capabilities and Fulcrum’s expertise in midstream and LNG project development, financing, and market access.

However, the alliance is a cooperation framework rather than a final investment commitment. Any individual project will require separate definitive agreements, internal approvals, and compliance with applicable U.S. sanctions and export-control requirements, including authorizations from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).