Primavera Prepares to Take Over Major Venezuelan Oil Fields After September Miraflores Agreements, Led by Returning Diaspora Talent
HOUSTON/CARACAS - Natural resources company Primavera announced on October 13 that it is making significant progress preparing to take over operations of oil fields in Venezuela, under agreements signed by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons, PDVSA and the company on September 2, 2026, at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas. Headquartered in Houston and Caracas, Primavera is among the new operators emerging from this year's Venezuelan energy opening.
The company has built out its operating leadership: its Venezuela team will be led by Oscar Quintero, who joins from Occidental Petroleum in Houston, where he was president of its enhanced oil recovery division, after earlier roles at Shell and Hess across large conventional assets in Russia, Indonesia, India and the United States. Quintero is a native Venezuelan returning home with his family.
Primavera co-founder Manuel Iribarren said that, like so many compatriots, he and Quintero were once forced to leave Venezuela in pursuit of opportunity, and that today they and countless others are returning in the hope of building a brighter future for the country. Diaspora return has become a marked feature of Venezuela's transition, with the energy industry among its most concentrated landing spots.
Primavera's field takeover remains in preparation; its real production contribution awaits operational handover and investment execution. Whether such new-player-plus-returning-veteran combinations can actually produce - under constraints of power supply, financing and sanctions review - will be a telling sample of the quality of Venezuela's oil recovery. National output stands at about 1.2 to 1.25 million barrels per day, against an official target of 1.5 million by the end of 2027.
Sources: Compiled from Primavera's October 13, 2026 company announcement via PR Newswire, carried by Morningstar.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 钻井平台上的井架工（逆光剪影），National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 摄，Public domain（Wikimedia Commons）
