Venezuela's oil industry is reopening to foreign majors, but the engineers it needs fled years ago, and luring that talent home is the hardest task.
Chevron, BP and Shell got US licenses to return to Venezuela in 2026, but skilled engineers who fled won't come back. Talent—not capital—is the bottleneck; recovery depends on persuading diaspora engineers, reshaping global oil flows.
Venezuela · Energy
Key Facts
—The reopening. US licenses now let major oil firms operate in Venezuela again.
—The names. Chevron, BP, Eni, Repsol and Shell were cleared to return early in 2026.
—The gap. The skilled engineers needed to run the fields left the country years ago.
Venezuela busca el talento que expulsó
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