In a CBC News documentary prepared by Andrew Chang for About That, Dr. Carole Nakhle, CEO of Crystol Energy, explains why Venezuela’s oil sector cannot rebound on headlines alone. The segment looks at what it would take to restore output and attract investment, and why the obstacles run deeper than a single political turning point.
Key takeaways:
- Policy choices under former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez reshaped the investment landscape by concentrating power in PDVSA and increasing the fiscal burden on international operators, which reduced the commercial case for many companies to stay.
- A credible recovery requires large scale rehabilitation across upstream and downstream assets, since ageing facilities and weak reliability undermine production, processing, and exports.
- A modernisation push will not stick without an overhaul of legislation and the wider regulatory framework, so rules are clearer, institutions are stronger, and investment terms are workable.
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