Venezuela's Oil Industry Reopens as Companies Flock to Caracas

Oil companies are flocking to Venezuela despite years of sanctions and underinvestment that have crippled the country's once-booming industry. The Venezuela International Oil and Gas Summit in Caracas has attracted top executives from European giants Repsol, Siemens, Maurel & Prom, US firm Hunt Oil Company, Qatari producer UCC Holding, and Colombia's GeoPark.

The country sits on the world's largest proven oil reserves but its current production of one million barrels per day falls far short of the three million it averaged decades ago. Experts attribute the decline to years of corruption and poor management.

US President Donald Trump has imposed an embargo on Venezuelan oil in response to 2018 elections marred by fraud allegations, which led to a sharp decline in production. However, Rodriguez's government has granted Washington access to a huge chunk of the country's crude reserves and signed agreements with foreign companies to look for, produce, and export oil and gas.

Repsol aims to increase its oil production in Venezuela by 50 percent in its western oil fields, while Maurel & Prom expects to close the year with an output of 23,000 barrels per day. Despite the challenges, companies operating in Venezuela are pushing to boost production.