British oil company BP has expressed interest in operating in Venezuela's oil sector. The company left the South American country in 2007 but returned in 2024 to resume partial operations with PDVSA. According to BP's CEO, Carol Howle, the company is seeking a U.S. government license to develop the Manakin-Cocuina gas field, which straddles the border between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. LPO reports that BP has been in talks since last year with Mexico's Energy Ministry (Sener) and Pemex to expand its business in Mexico and resume exploration activities in partnership with Pemex. BP's concerns about operating with Pemex are shared by other major oil companies: fears related to the new institutional framework from judicial reform, Pemex's operational issues, and security concerns. However, the company prefers to operate in Venezuela, with all the complexities of the country's current transition, over partnering with Pemex. BP ceased its exploration business in Mexico during the Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador administration. Previously, the company operated in the Gulf of Mexico following the energy reform under Enrique Pena Nieto. On Monday, the company reported a fourth-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, or adjusted net income, of $1.54 billion, an increase of about 32% from the same period in 2024.
