World news | The Guardian
· collected 2026-08-18 · by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent
BP plans to develop a large offshore gasfield in Venezuela with two firms linked to the Trump administration. The development will be part of the second phase of the Loran gasfield, which BP holds a licence for alongside a Qatari company and UAE's national oil company. This is one of the first large-scale foreign investments in Venezuela since the US ousted its leader Nicolás Maduro in January. BP's chief executive, Meg O'Neill, described the licence as an "important step forward" in the company's collaboration with Caracas.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
BP, a London-listed oil company, has announced plans to develop a large offshore gasfield in Venezuela, in partnership with two companies linked to the Trump administration. The gasfield is called Loran, and BP will be working alongside a Qatari company owned by the Al-Khayyat brothers, who have ties to Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. This deal marks one of the first large-scale foreign investments in Venezuela since the US ousted its leader, Nicolás Maduro, in January. The partnership also involves the overseas investment arm of the UAE's national oil company, which is run by Sultan Al Jaber, who promised Trump that the Gulf state would increase its investments in the US energy sector to $440bn (£325bn) within a decade. This deal is significant because it shows that international oil companies are starting to return to Venezuela after years of decline. The first phase of the Loran field was secured by rival company Shell earlier this year, but BP's involvement marks a major step in rebuilding Venezuela's fossil fuel industry.
Written for “Venezuela Gas Deal Revealed” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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Leaning score +0.55 for article 1081 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-08-25
BP has answered Donald Trump’s call for oil companies to help rebuild Venezuela’s fossil fuel industry with new plans to develop a large offshore gasfield.
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companies → answer → gasfield
BP will partner with two oil firms with close links to the Trump administration to develop the second phase of the Loran gasfield, in one of the first large-scale foreign investments in Venezuela since the US ousted its leader Nicolás Maduro in January.
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US → partner → January
The London-listed oil company holds a licence to develop the field alongside a Qatari company owned by the Al-Khayyat brothers, the Syrian-born billionaires working with Ivanka Trump, the US president’s daughter, and her husband, Jared Kushner, to build a controversial multibillion-dollar resort in Albania.
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company → list → Albania
BP will also work alongside the overseas investment arm of UAE’s national oil company run by the industry minister, Sultan Al Jaber, who in 2025 promised Trump that the Gulf state would increase its investments in the US energy sector more than sixfold to $440bn (£325bn) within a decade.
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state → work → decade
The deal makes BP one of the first large-scale international oil firms to return to Venezuela after rival Shell secured a licence to develop the first phase of the Loran field earlier this summer.
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Shell → make → field
Meg O’Neill, BP’s chief executive, described the licence as “an important step forward” in the company’s collaboration with Caracas, which “reflects the progress we have made together”.
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we → describe → progress
BP is one of a handful of European oil firms that have returned to the basin since Trump called for foreign oil companies to invest “at least $100bn” to help rebuild and tap Venezuela’s oil resources after capturing the country’s former president.
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companies → return → president
The US oil companies ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have begun scouting opportunities in Venezuela, but have been slower to play a role in its fossil fuel revival after the Latin American country nationalised the industry in 2007.
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country → begin → 2007
Chevron remained in the country as a minority partner to Venezuela’s state oil company and has continued to produce crude.
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Chevron → remain → crude
BP’s licence was awarded almost four months after it agreed to work with the Venezuelan government to explore potential gas development.
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it → award → development
It was also one of the first big agreements struck by O’Neill, a US-born former ExxonMobil executive, in her first month at the helm.
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It → strike → helm
O’Neill said: “BP has a longstanding presence in the region and deep experience developing major gas resources.
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BP → say → resources
Together, these agreements provide a strong foundation to progress Venezuela’s offshore gas potential and unlock the next phase of development.”
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agreements → provide → development
Venezuela is believed to have the largest oil reserves of any country in the world, and in the late 1990s produced more than 3.5m barrels of a oil a day as one of the top 10 crude producers in the world.
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Venezuela → believe → world
However, a quarter of a century of neglect, underinvestment and corruption have eroded its oil industry and caused output to fall to roughly 1m barrels a day.
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output → erode → barrels
In the months since the Trump administration seized control of Venezuela’s oil industry, oil output has climbed to 1.2m barrels a day, allowing exports to US refineries to reach their highest level since 2019.
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exports → seize → 2019
