Venezuela offers oil rights to BRICS in bid for membership

President Nicolas Maduro said that Venezuela could provide BRICS countries with access to oil and gas fields. He called the organization a "gigantic market for domestic producers," according to Kommersant.

Maduro has already authorized the transfer of rights to develop oil and gas fields to BRICS countries.

In February, he expressed his aspirations to join BRICS, a group of five emerging economies, during the upcoming summit in Kazan, recalls Kommersant. This summit has been scheduled for October of this year, and Venezuela has received an official invitation to attend.

In July, Venezuela's Executive Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, expressed the country's readiness to supply energy and mineral resources to BRICS.

Venezuela is known as one of the countries with the largest hydrocarbon reserves in the world. In December 2023, President Maduro declared the Essequibo region in Guyana the 24th state of Venezuela, despite the ruling of the International Court of Justice.

He also suggested creating special departments in this newly annexed territory to issue licenses for the extraction of gas, oil, and minerals.

This concerns an area of approximately 160,580 square kilometres, where Americans are currently extracting oil. "In 2022, oil production in Guyana, a small country located in South America, will triple," we wrote on money.pl after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

According to data from oec.world, Guyana was the world's 21st largest exporter of crude oil in 2022.

Nicolas Maduro took office for his third term as president of the country in July 2024. However, his victory in the elections was not recognized by Western countries. Nevertheless, Maduro continues his rule, aiming to strengthen Venezuela's position on the international stage through potential membership in BRICS.