Venezuela’s state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) said it is guaranteeing the legal security of foreign investors in the wake of national government hints at nationalization, according to Reuters.
With a vast amount of its reserves in offshore areas, PDVSA is a major force in the Venezuelan economy.
But the economy is under duress as inflation and shortages have been taking their toll for several years and street unrest has been growing against the rule of President Nicolas Maduro and his United Socialist Party.
A government-allied lawyer recently said that a new “constituent assembly” may rewrite the constitution to ensure the state has full ownership of the oil industry.
That prompted PDVSA to issue a statement to its various foreign joint venture (JV) partners, reassuring them that the terms of the JVs would be honoured. Those partners include US supermajor Chevron.