Venezuelan President Maduro is preparing to change PDVSA

Venezuela’s embattled President Nicolás Maduro will make major changes to the top leadership of state oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) and the oil ministry, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Tuesday. The move follows controversial presidential elections that have threatened the country’s political stability.

Maduro is expected to replace current PDVSA CEO Pedro Rafael Tellechea with his current vice president, the unnamed sources said. Maduro appointed Tellechea to head PDVSA in early January 2023 and later as Venezuela’s oil minister following the March 2023 resignation of Tareck El Aissami. El Aissami found himself embroiled in a wide-ranging corruption investigation involving oil shipments that allegedly left the country unpaid.

According to sources, Tellechea, who was installed ostensibly to root out corruption at the state-owned company, was recently ordered to conduct an audit of his time at PDVSA. To this end, he requested detailed reports from division chiefs on his achievements. However, sources suggest that despite his efforts to fight corruption and win support among the company’s workforce, Maduro plans to make a leadership change.

The change comes after last month’s disputed, highly publicized presidential election. Although the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner, opposition leaders claim they had access to 90 percent of the vote, and according to their count, Edmundo Gonzalez won twice as many votes as Maduro. Maduro’s victory claim was followed by deadly protests and heightened political instability. It also led to the forced resignations of numerous public sector employees, including those at PDVSA and the oil ministry.

In the run-up to the election, Maduro told Washington he was willing to resume talks with the United States about lifting sanctions against the country.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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