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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Energy & Infrastructure

Halliburton to return to Venezuela for oil exploration after court ruling

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice has expanded a previous ruling, allowing Halliburton to resume oil exploration activities in the states of Zulia and Monagas.
  • The court ordered the return of all assets previously embargoed from the oil services company, enabling its operational restart.
  • Halliburton, which left Venezuela in December 2020 due to U.S. sanctions, is now returning following this judicial decision, which includes the use and enjoyment of its strategic assets.

Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) has broadened the scope of a recent ruling, paving the way for oil services company Halliburton to resume its operations in the country. The court's Penal Cassation Chamber issued sentence 3218, rectifying a previous error and decreeing a "precautionary measure consisting of the restart of productive operations of the company Servicios Halliburton de Venezuela, S.A."

precautionary measure consisting of the restart of productive operations of the company Servicios Halliburton de Venezuela, S.A.

— TSJ Sentence 3218The court's decree explicitly orders the resumption of Halliburton's operations.

This favorable decision responds to a petition filed by the company's representatives on March 24, 2026. The TSJ has ordered the judicial depositary in Maracaibo, Zulia state, and a representative in Maturín, Monagas state, to release all movable and immovable assets previously embargoed from Halliburton. The court mandates that the company be put in possession of these assets, granting it the "faculties of use, enjoyment, and disposition" for assets deemed strategic and critical to the hydrocarbon industry.

the delivery of the assets located in both Judicial Districts.

— TSJ Sentence 3218The ruling mandates the return of Halliburton's seized property.

Halliburton, a major global oilfield services corporation headquartered in Houston, Texas, had ceased operations in Venezuela in December 2020. This departure was a direct consequence of U.S. sanctions imposed on Venezuela's oil industry and the government of Nicolás Maduro. The company's return signifies a shift in operational conditions within the Venezuelan energy sector.

faculties of use, enjoyment, and disposition, as they are assets of a strategic and critical nature for the hydrocarbon industry, being empowered to do everything that entails their corporate purpose and business, keeping the company running.

— TSJ Sentence 3218The court grants Halliburton broad rights over its returned assets for operational purposes.

According to reports, the embargoed assets, essential for heavy oil industry activities, were valued at $6.6 million. They were slated for auction to settle labor liabilities incurred when Halliburton exited the country. The TSJ's order for the material and physical handover of these assets, and the ruling that "there is no condemnation in costs" due to the nature of the decision, facilitates Halliburton's operational restart. The company's return is noted in some reports as occurring "in the hands of Trump," potentially referencing shifts in U.S. policy or influence regarding Venezuela.

given the nature of the decision, there is no condemnation in costs

— TSJ Sentence 3218The ruling specifies that Halliburton is not required to pay legal costs associated with this process.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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