By Patricia Garip | Updated on Oct 07, 2026 at 02:30 PM
Pacific Coast Energy Co., a California-based oil producer, started work in Venezuela and plans to double its output there within six months to 40,000 barrels a day.
The company began operations during the third quarter in the Delta and Cabimas blocks and has reactivated more than 50 wells producing heavy crude, according to a statement Wednesday.
PCEC is among a growing number of small, and in some cases little-known, companies working to redevelop Venezuela’s oil fields as the Trump administration pushes to revive the nation’s energy industry after removing former President Nicolás Maduro from power.
The company’s two blocks, which are on opposite sides of the country, currently produce about 19,300 barrels a day. At their peak, they have potential to produce up to 160,000 barrels a day for 10 years, PCEC says.
Each block includes several fields, which PCEC is operating under 25-year agreements with state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA. The company has four rigs working to reactivate 900 wells at Cabimas.
The Delta block was previously held by the family of late Venezuelan magnate Oswaldo Cisneros under a joint venture that PDVSA revoked in May.