Decades of underinvestment have left ports, storage facilities, pipelines, processing plants and refineries in need of rehabilitation, creating a parallel infrastructure opportunity as the country works to rebuild production and exports.

As Venezuela Energy Week 2027 brings government officials, operators, investors, financiers and service providers together in Caracas from February 22–25, three areas stand out as immediate infrastructure opportunities: export terminals and storage, refining and downstream rehabilitation, and pipelines and gas processing. Together, they represent critical entry points for companies looking to support Venezuela’s next phase of energy development.

Export Terminals and Storage

Venezuela’s export infrastructure is already emerging as a constraint on higher crude flows. Tankers have recently faced waiting times of up to 30 days to load Venezuelan crude, while exports have struggled to move above approximately 1.25 million barrels per day (bpd), well below historical levels of more than 2.5 million bpd. The country’s aging terminals, power outages and operational constraints have contributed to the bottleneck. José, the country’s principal crude-export terminal, handles roughly 70% of Venezuela’s exports, making its performance critical to any sustained increase in production.

The constraints create opportunities for investment in loading systems, berths, transfer infrastructure, power reliability and terminal operations. Faster loading and more efficient cargo scheduling could increase the volume of crude moving through Venezuela’s existing export network without requiring equivalent increases in upstream production.

Storage is another potential bottleneck. Additional and rehabilitated tank capacity would give producers and marketers greater flexibility to manage growing crude volumes, blending requirements and export schedules while reducing pressure on loading infrastructure. For investors and service companies, these projects offer relatively direct opportunities to participate in Venezuela’s energy recovery while supporting the logistics required to bring additional barrels to international markets.

Refining and Downstream Rehabilitation

Venezuela’s refining system represents another significant rehabilitation opportunity. The country has approximately 1.29 million bpd of installed refining capacity, but its facilities have operated at a fraction of that level after years of maintenance shortfalls, technical failures and power disruptions. In February 2026, the network was processing around 450,000 bpd, or roughly 35% of installed capacity.

The gap creates substantial room for investment in refinery maintenance, equipment replacement, power systems and fuel-processing units. At the Paraguana Refining Center, the country’s largest refining complex, five of nine distillation units were processing approximately 287,000 bpd in February, while other facilities including Puerto la Cruz and El Palito were operating at reduced levels.

Restoring more of that capacity could improve domestic fuel availability and allow Venezuela to capture greater value from its crude production. It would also create opportunities across engineering, procurement and construction, equipment supply, maintenance and refinery services.

Pipelines and Gas Processing

Pipeline rehabilitation will be critical to connecting Venezuela’s producing regions with storage, processing and export infrastructure. The Orinoco Belt, which contains much of the country’s heavy-oil resource base, requires reliable gathering, transportation, upgrading and diluent infrastructure to support sustained production growth.

In addition, Venezuela holds substantial natural-gas resources, much of which is associated with oil production, while limited processing and transportation infrastructure has constrained commercialization. Offshore developments demonstrate the potential for a different model of gas investment. The Dragon field, which contains approximately 4.2 trillion cubic feet of gas, is being developed under a 30-year license granted to Shell and Trinidad and Tobago’s National Gas Company, with plans to process the gas through Trinidad’s existing infrastructure.

As new oil and gas projects advance, investment in pipelines, gas gathering and processing, compression, storage and related infrastructure will determine how efficiently production can reach domestic and international markets.

The broader infrastructure opportunity also extends into power. A recent agreement with GE Vernova targets the rehabilitation of Venezuela’s electricity system, including work to restore generation and transmission capacity at the Guri hydroelectric complex. The initiative is expected to add 1 gigawatt of power within two years and another 5 gigawatts over the following four years, underscoring the importance of reliable electricity to the wider energy-sector recovery.

Venezuela’s energy revival will depend on rebuilding the infrastructure connecting its resources to markets. As international companies pursue new production agreements and existing operators expand activity, ports, storage, refining, pipelines, gas processing and power infrastructure will all shape how quickly additional capital translates into barrels, fuel and monetized gas.

Our thoughts are with the people and communities affected by the recent earthquakes in Venezuela. As the country begins the long process of recovery, we encourage members of the global energy community to support relief and reconstruction efforts through the CAF Recovery and Reconstruction Fund for Venezuela, which channels contributions from individuals, companies and organizations to emergency assistance, essential services and long-term rebuilding efforts.

To learn more or make a contribution, please visit the CAF Recovery and Reconstruction Fund for Venezuela.