Coinbase Co-Founder Fred Ehrsam Seeks Fields In Venezuela Oil Shakeup

The fields are currently operated by Alvorada Heavy Industries Ltd in the Boca, Guico and Guara blocks of Venezuela's Orinoco Belt, under contracts that US officials are considering revoking, said the people, who requested anonymity because the talks aren't public. Other changes to existing oil contracts are expected this week, when Energy Secretary Chris Wright visits Caracas and is set to showcase as many as 17 oil and gas agreements.

One of the people said Alvorada is looking to engage with US officials in an attempt to maintain its investments. Alvorada declined to comment. Ehrsam didn't reply to an email seeking comment. A spokesperson for a firm co-founded by Ehrsam to invest in Venezuela, known as Primavera, declined to comment.

The reshuffling is part of President Donald Trump's push to revive Venezuela's oil industry with foreign capital and boost supplies as the US replenishes strategic reserves depleted during the war with Iran.

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But the overhaul also highlights a defining feature of Trump's approach: one relationship-driven system is giving way to another. Under Maduro, access often depended on ties to government insiders and officials at state-owned oil company PDVSA; under Trump, connections in Washington are increasingly shaping who gets a seat at the table.

The US government is "highly personalistic right now," said Steven Levitsky, director of Harvard University's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, arguing that Trump's longstanding interest in controlling other countries' oil is helping shape Washington's approach to Venezuela.

The White House didn't reply to a request for comment.

From Crypto to Oil

Ehrsam has emerged as one of the best-connected newcomers pursuing opportunities there. The billionaire co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. has made repeated trips to Caracas and met senior US and Venezuelan officials while exploring investments in oil and gas, fintech and digital payments, Bloomberg News reported in May.

He has also tried to tap connections in Washington while scouting Venezuelan energy assets, according to people familiar with the matter. His pursuit of Alvorada's fields illustrates the uncertain footing of existing operators, even as they move quickly to adapt to the new order. 

Alvorada had spent years adapting to the demands of Venezuela's Maduro-era oil system. After entering the fields around 2023 and investing about $30 million to restart idle wells, the company was required by state-owned PDVSA to work with a politically connected local contractor, adding costs even when production was halted, according to one of the people who spoke on condition of anonymity.

More recently, Alvorada had been moving to comply with Venezuela's new hydrocarbons law and expand output when a new challenge emerged from Washington. In July, it acquired small Texas producer Calistoga Energy Reserves LLC to establish a US headquarters and coordinate its Venezuela strategy from there, Buzanelli told Brazilian business publication Exame.

Alvorada is far from alone in facing a new source of political pressure.

The Ayacucho 6 project, awarded to Venezuelan construction and engineering company West-Construcciones C.A., and the Bare field, operated by Cavallino Oil Company, are also among the contracts being reconsidered, according to people familiar with the plan.

Colombia's billionaire Gilinski family and GeoPark Ltd are nearing a deal to become the operator of Bare. Both projects appeared on a widely circulated list of productive-participation contracts awarded under Maduro that are now under review. 

In May, Venezuela's oil ministry revoked the minority stake held by DP Delta Finance BV, controlled by the family of late Venezuelan businessman Oswaldo Cisneros, in the Petrodelta joint venture, citing failures to meet investment and production commitments. The government has since moved to transfer the assets to California-based Pacific Coast Energy Co.

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The overhaul has also reached US investors who once appeared well positioned in Venezuela. In August, the Trump administration pressured Florida oil magnate Harry Sargeant III to sell his minority interest in North American Blue Energy Partners, Venezuela's second-largest private oil producer. Sargeant ultimately agreed to a $300 million sale after the Treasury Department froze assets belonging to his offshore holding company.