Silhouette of a passerby near the stage at the CERAWeek 2025. Photo: Bloomberg.
By MisiĂłn Verdad – Mar 17, 2025
CERAWeek, an annual energy conference held in Texas, US, recently convened energy industry leaders.
It is considered one of the most important meetings on the subject in the country and is organized by the financial management firm S&P Global. Its objective is to analyze the challenges and opportunities in the context of energy and geopolitical transformation, discuss the current and future state of the energy market, and promote debates on related technological developments.
Business executives, government officials, opinion leaders, and representatives from the energy, policy, technology, and finance industries typically attend.
This event featured the unannounced participation of MarĂa Corina Machado and Edmundo González, who delivered presentations via recorded videos lasting eight minutes during one of the program’s working groups, though not in the plenary session.
Despite the brief format, Machado and González’s allotted time sufficed for them to express their views on Venezuelan oil and gas.
Privatization and transnationalization of PDVSA and national reserves
Edmundo González asserted that Venezuela can achieve “rapid and sustainable” growth in the energy sector with the “correct policies.” He referenced the “Venezuela, Land of Grace” government plan, initially presented by Machado and later adopted by the former candidate.
At the time, the document faced criticism for having been originally drafted in English outside Venezuela, with input from foreign experts.
Machado—whom González would appoint as vice president in the unlikely event he assumes the presidency during his hypothetical administration—proposed privatizing the oil and gas industry.
“It will be 100% managed by the private sector, with the government acting solely as a transparent regulator,” she said from a clandestine location.
She also emphasized decreeing investment protections within Venezuela’s legal framework to promote “long-term stability and security.” Additionally, she proposed transferring oil fields to private operators with “full guarantees of property rights” and auctioning off the state’s stake.
Machado further offered foreign companies and CERAWeek guests “tax incentives” for oil firms during her unlikely administration.
The appearance of these representatives from Venezuela’s extremist faction reveals their desire to surrender Venezuela’s natural resources to energy corporations, particularly given attendees such as US Secretary of Energy Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Mike Summers, and American Petroleum Institute (API) head Michael Wirth, among other North American corporate representatives.
Exxon brand lobby?
The context of Machado and González’s presentation coincides with clashes between US foreign interests in Venezuela. This is highlighted by ExxonMobil Corporation’s lobbying following the expiration of General License 41, which had favored Chevron and regulated the multinational’s Venezuelan operations since 2022.
At CERAWeek, Irfaan Ali, president of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, also made an unannounced appearance. In his presentation, Ali defended concession policies favoring ExxonMobil and growing investments in the disputed Essequibo waters off the coast of Venezuela.
The Venezuelan issue dominated the forum, particularly through voices hostile to the country’s integrity and sovereignty—likely invited under ExxonMobil’s auspices.
The shift by these Venezuelan opposition politicians toward new actor groups seeking support is striking.
Without backing from Venezuela’s military or domestic business leaders and without complete unity among the political opposition, this faction continues to transnationalize its agenda, aiming to forge a failed proto-government abroad.
Now offering the nation’s resources and hydrocarbon industry as a “box of chocolates,” they seek decisive support from US oil companies to galvanize actions removing Caracas’ legitimate government under the Donald Trump administration.
Strategic issues
This year, CERAWeek shifted its focus. Previously centered on energy transition, discussions now prioritize oil and gas.
This aligns with the current Washington administration’s policy to “return” to fossil fuels. Trump champions US hydrocarbon expansion to solidify dominance in global oil production and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
His government’s influence shaped the event’s key debates.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated at the conference’s opening that the White House would “cut the red tape hindering oil projects” and boost gas exports to reverse years of “waste,” criticizing what he called Biden’s “irrational, religious climate change policies.”
Wright, a noted climate crisis denier, added: “There is no physical way for renewables and storage to replace the multiple uses of gas,” which accounts for “43% of electricity generation” in the US.
“Millions have been squandered in the name of new energy, and what have US nationals gotten? A higher electricity bill,” he said.
Before his appointment, Wright was CEO of Liberty Energy, a major fracking services provider. Trump tasked him with leading the “drill, baby, drill” policy.
Since the post-WWII era, the US has redefined its global role, transitioning from industrial leader to raw materials supplier—a regression by classical economic standards.
It now leads global crude production and LNG exports, displacing Russian gas in Europe with cross-Atlantic shipments. This strategy generates revenue and geopolitical leverage.
Bloomberg estimates the US will expand LNG manufacturing capacity by 60% during the first half of Trump’s second term. By 2030, nearly one in three LNG tankers could originate from the US, advancing the administration’s energy dominance goals.
The White House aims for energy self-sufficiency to reduce foreign oil reliance while deploying pressure-driven international energy diplomacy. This includes binding Europe to costly LNG dependence and pursuing fossil resources in traditional enclaves, reshaping resource disputes.
Venezuela: Hackers Associated With Far-Right Opposition Confess to Attacking Electoral System
Venezuela’s resurgence
Venezuela re-enters this equation. Despite Trump dismissing its crude as “sticky” and banning US imports (claiming “they don’t need it”), the country holds the world’s largest oil reserves and Latin America’s biggest natural gas deposits.
To “Make America Great Again” (MAGA), Washington pursues aggressive, multi-pronged strategies—even pressuring traditional allies through trade wars.
Policies aim to reroute global investment, finance, and resources toward the North American nation as a Rome where all the paths of contemporary capitalism converge.
This long-term structural shift repositions Venezuela as a policy benchmark. While Trump’s role may be fleeting, older interests in Venezuelan resources, like those of ExxonMobil, endure.
Machado and González’s CERAWeek appearance aligns with the forum’s objectives. The event revealed key strands of Washington’s energy expansion strategy, with ExxonMobil likely building lobbies to dismantle Venezuela’s nation-state, leveraging figures like Machado and González.
This persists despite the diminished importance of Venezuelan crude under Trump’s agenda of energy self-sufficiency.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
