Venezuela offers BRICS countries access to vast oil and gas reserves

President Nicolás Maduro declared that Venezuela could provide BRICS countries access to its oil and gas deposits. He referred to the organisation as a gigantic market for national producers, reports Kommersant.

Maduro has already sanctioned the transfer of the right to develop oil and gas deposits in favour of BRICS countries.

In February, he expressed his aspirations to join BRICS, a group of five developing world economies, during the upcoming summit in Kazan, recalls Kommersant. This summit is scheduled for October this year, and Venezuela has received an official invitation to participate.

In July, Venezuela’s Executive Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, reiterated the country's readiness to supply energy and mineral resources to BRICS.

Venezuela is recognised as one of the countries with the largest hydrocarbon reserves in the world. In December 2023, President Maduro declared the Essequibo region in Guyana as the 24th state of Venezuela, defying a ruling by the International Court of Justice.

He also proposed the creation of special departments in this newly annexed territory, which would be responsible for issuing concessions for the extraction of gas, oil, and minerals.

This concerns an area of 62,000 square miles, where Americans extract oil.“In 2022, the extraction of oil in Guyana – a small country located in South America – increased threefold.

According to data from oec.world, Guyana was the 21st largest oil exporter in the world in 2022.

Nicolás Maduro commenced his third term as president of Venezuela in July 2024. However, Western countries did not recognise his electoral victory. Despite this, Maduro continues to govern, seeking to strengthen Venezuela’s position on the international stage by potentially joining BRICS.