SLB, Formentera Partners Revive Venezuela Drilling Plans

Oil service provider SLB and private equity firm Formentera Partners are working to reactivate oil rigs in Venezuela or import additional rigs into the country. This effort aims to boost oil production, which has been severely impacted by various challenges.

The current production capacity in Venezuela is around 1.25 million barrels per day, according to official numbers. However, this figure is expected to increase as SLB plans to reactivate up to 15 oil rigs currently in the country.

Managing partner Blake London of Formentera Partners stated that they are discussing with international service providers to bring drilling rigs into Venezuela. This will help to address the bottleneck on power supply and supply chain issues in the country.

Despite these efforts, oil majors such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have expressed concerns about returning to Venezuela due to uncertainties surrounding legislation, contracts, permits, and other regulatory hurdles.