A new issue every other week, special editions as events warrant, sources cited throughout. Older issues are in the full archive.
ExxonMobil signed a non-binding memorandum with PDVSA on 9 November, almost two decades after Cerro Negro was expropriated. What was signed, which barrels, the $1.6bn award, and the OFAC licences that apply.
Panama left the EU tax blacklist on 9 October but remains on Annex II; Venezuela stays on the FATF grey list. What that means for a Panama platform serving Venezuelan energy work.
A supplier-qualification call in Venezuela, read the way a CFO would: FX and working capital, IVA and withholding, sanctions and licensing.
Five questions foreign investors ask about valor agregado nacional, based on the article by Gustavo León Villalba, legal counsel to the Venezuelan Petroleum Chamber, Carabobo Chapter.
Venezuela's 2026 reopening set against California in 1849, checked against the reformed law and the July regulation.
The majors, independents, traders and refiners mapped by segment and by status: active, licence sought, exited or legacy, state operator.
The document behind every signing ceremony. An illustrative 14-clause bilingual model drafted from the legal framework, with the five clauses that carry the risk and what binds and what does not.
Decree 5.381 turned statutory ceilings into an assessable fiscal framework: the hinge between Chevron's May complaint and its September signature.
Five factual developments, led by the $7 billion scaling-up of Chevron's joint ventures. Four Orinoco Belt blocks hold about 91% of the reserves of Venezuela's seven largest fields.
Every edition so far hangs off these dates. Tap one to see the instrument, what it changed, what is still open, and where the Gazette covered it.
The National Assembly amends the Organic Hydrocarbons Law. Royalties can reach 30%, a new Integrated Hydrocarbons Tax of up to 15% on gross revenue is set project by project, operatorship can be delegated to minority partners, and an economic-financial equilibrium guarantee is written in.
The reform's fiscal chapter comes into force. The statute now holds ceilings, not rates: royalty and the integrated tax are capped, but the figure for any given project is left to executive discretion.
On Bloomberg TV, Chevron's chief executive says the reform points in the right direction but the fiscal values that decide project economics have not been specified. It is the clearest public statement of what investors were waiting for.
The implementing regulation turns ceilings into an assessable framework: an aggregate-rate schedule (Art. 43), and a 34% income-tax rate with seven-year accelerated depreciation for greenfield projects (Art. 45). Tax resolutions follow in G.O. N° 43.410. Largely unreported at the time, this is the hinge between May's complaint and September's signatures.
Chevron sets out a $7 billion, five-year plan across its joint ventures, a scaling-up rather than a return. Continental Resources signs an MoU with PDVSA for the Ayacucho 2 block on 16 September, and TotalEnergies signs one on 19 September.
The EU removes Panama from its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, tied to the new economic-substance law and its implementing decree. Panama becomes a defensible platform for Venezuela-facing work, but only for structures with real substance.
Move the levers to see how one barrel splits between costs, the state and the private partner under the 2026 framework. Start from a preset, then make it your own.
| Operating and capital cost | |
|---|---|
| Royalty and integrated tax | |
| Income tax | |
| PDVSA's equity share | |
| Private partner's share |
At these settings the project loses money on every barrel.
Illustrative. The aggregate rate and income tax follow the Hydrocarbons Law reform (G.O. N° 6.978 Ext.) and Decree 5.381 (G.O. N° 7.052 Ext., Arts. 43 and 45); preset rates are this desk's modelling assumptions, not published project terms. Capital recovery is treated as deductible. Analysis, not tax or investment advice.
Numbered issues every other week, special editions when events warrant. Full editions and executive briefs are landscape PDFs; carousels are the LinkedIn page images.
| Edition | Headline | Formats |
|---|---|---|
| Issue No. 6November 2026 | Exxon Signs an MOU. Nothing Binds Yet.ExxonMobil's non-binding MOU with PDVSA read against the Petromonagas question and its Russian partner, the $1.6bn ICSID award, the OFAC general licences that apply (49B, 48D, 52C, 50C, 46E), and the five clauses to watch from our model MoU. |
Executive brief → |
| SpecialOctober 2026 | Panama Leaves the Blacklist. Venezuela Stays Grey-Listed.Panama and Venezuela compared across the FATF, EU and OFAC lists, the OFAC licence conditions that still apply, Panama's Law 526 substance test from FY2027, and four Panama structures scored for Venezuelan energy work. |
Executive brief → |
| Issue No. 4October 2026 | The Procurement SignalHalliburton Venezuela's supplier-qualification call across six categories, analysed for FX and working capital, IVA and withholding, transfer pricing, and OFAC licensing. |
Request full edition → |
| SpecialOctober 2026 | National Added Value for Venezuela's Energy SectorFive questions foreign investors ask about valor agregado nacional, based on the article by Gustavo León Villalba, legal counsel to the Venezuelan Petroleum Chamber, Carabobo Chapter. |
Request full edition → |
| Issue No. 3October 2026 | A Gold Rush, Read Twice: California 1849, Venezuela 2026The reopening set against the 1849 rush, with a three-country timeline (United States, Panama, Venezuela, 1848–1858) and Panama's role as the transit corridor, then and now. |
Request full edition → |
| SpecialSeptember 2026 | Anatomy of an Oil MoUThe document behind every signing ceremony. An illustrative 14-clause bilingual model drafted from the legal framework, with the five clauses that carry the risk and what binds and what does not. |
Executive brief →Request full edition → |
| Issue No. 2September 2026 | The Rate Arrived on 7 JulyDecree 5.381 turned statutory ceilings into an assessable fiscal framework. The largely unreported hinge between Chevron's May complaint and its September signature. |
Request full edition → |
| Issue No. 1September 2026 | Chevron Bets BiggerFive factual developments, led by the $7 billion scaling-up of Chevron's joint ventures. Four Orinoco Belt blocks hold about 91% of the reserves of Venezuela's seven largest fields. |
Request full edition → |
| BriefingOctober 2026 | Who's Operating in VenezuelaThe majors, independents, traders and refiners mapped by segment and by status: active, licence sought, exited or legacy, state operator. |
Live tracker → |
Working references kept current between issues. Some are open; the deeper models are shared on request.
Upstream, midstream and downstream players, filterable by segment and licence status.
Open tracker →Executive orders, statutes and the general licences in force, in five phases, linked to primary sources.
Request the cheat sheet →1970, 1990, 2010 and a 2030 outlook side by side. Who owns, who operates, who collects.
Open diagram →State layer, international operators, trading counterparties, advisers and the Citgo litigation, post-January 2026.
Request the matrix →Base and greenfield streams under the 2026 fiscal terms, with government take, netback and breakeven KPIs and peer benchmarks.
Request the model →Hydrocarbons Law reform (G.O. 6.978 Ext.), Decree 5.381 (G.O. 7.052 Ext.) and G.O. 43.410, as cited across the editions.
See the editions →Structuring a Venezuela energy platform in Panama after the EU delisting, under the new economic-substance law.
Editions go out only once every figure on the page has a source.
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Geography: Natural Earth 10m. Site markers are indicative.