Venezuela seeks oil investment at COP31 climate talks

Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez used the COP31 climate talks in Turkey to seek oil investment and defend her country's use of fossil fuels.

Addressing the summit on Thursday, Rodriguez said Venezuela had a “sovereign right” to develop its oil industry. She argued that a just energy transition should transform economies rather than shut them down.

Her delegation, including oil minister Paula Henao, also held meetings focused on Venezuela's underfunded crude industry. Rodriguez met Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday to discuss increasing Brazilian investment in Venezuela's oil sector.

Henao met Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar on Thursday. Bayraktar said on X that they had discussed possible joint projects in hydrocarbons, especially oil and natural gas.

Rodriguez became interim leader in January. Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves, but its oil industry has been affected by underinvestment and sanctions. Its export revenues are under American oversight, including a deal for US access to more than 65 billion barrels of oil, about 20 percent of Venezuela's proven reserves.

The push sits uneasily with a central aim of the climate talks: moving the world away from fossil fuels. Brazil, which hosted last year's talks, is promoting a global roadmap for that transition, while Lula also supports oil exploration and argues oil revenue can help fund clean energy.