US President Donald Trump’s trade siege of Venezuela, revoking permits to do business with the Venezuelan state holding company PDVSA, has ensnared US-based Global Oil Terminals, India’s Reliance Industries, Italy’s ENI, France’s Maurel & Prom… and Repsol, which has more than €500 million in equity risk in that country.
This is evident from Repsol’s 2024 annual report. After systematically reducing its equity exposure in Venezuela for several years, in 2024, Repsol almost doubled it again. Specifically, Repsol’s equity exposure in Venezuela as of December 31, 2024, “amounts to €504 million (€259 million as of December 31, 2023),” according to the Spanish oil company itself.
This risk includes “fundamentally the financing granted to Petroquiriquire, the investment in Cardón IV and Petroquiriquire, and the accounts receivable with PDVSA.” Trump has notified the partners of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA—including Spain’s Repsol—that their permits to export crude oil and derivatives from Venezuela (something Repsol was doing) have been canceled.
The companies have until the end of May to liquidate their operations in Venezuela, intensifying the Trump administration’s campaign to isolate the country, amid a battle in which migration also plays a key role: Washington has stated that Caracas has occasionally refused to accept compatriots deported from the US.
