Pedro Rafael Tellechea was at the head of Petróleos de Venezuela for one year and seven months and as Minister of Petroleum since March 2023, after the dismissal of Tareck El Aissami who participated in the Pdvsa Cripto corruption plot. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez remains as Minister of the oil area
Important changes were announced this Tuesday, August 27 in Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA): Pedro Rafael Tellechea left the presidency. While Vice President Delcy Rodríguez will also be Minister of Petroleum.
The state oil company will be headed by current Vice President Héctor Obregón Pérez. It was learned that Pdvsa Gas will be headed by Jannier Viloria, who comes from the subsidiary Pdvsa Occidente.
In a new cabinet reshuffle, President Nicolás Maduro said that the decision is part of “a deep review and to continue the path of comprehensive recovery of Venezuela.” In this sense, he ratified Delcy Rodríguez as vice president of the Republic and named her Minister of Petroleum.
Rodríguez was the minister in charge of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Foreign Trade. Tellechea was at the head of the oil company for one year and seven months, following the departure of Asdrúbal Chávez from the state-owned company in January 2023.
He was then appointed Minister of Petroleum in March 2023 with the dismissal of Tareck El Aissami, who was accused by the Attorney General’s Office of participating in the Pdvsa Crypto corruption plot along with other executives of the oil company, officials of other State agencies and businessmen. In this case, all those involved are still in custody, although the progress of the investigations in court is unknown.
In April of this year, President Nicolás Maduro appointed him “godfather” of the state of Zulia.
Maduro said that Tellechea will be Minister of Industry and President of the Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana (CVG). “He has already recovered Pequiven and PDVSA and now we are going to recover CVG (Venezuelan Corporation of Guayana).”
Jannier Viloria, general director of PDVSA Occident.
During Tellechea’s administration, Venezuelan oil production only managed to increase by 200 thousand barrels per day (b/d), Approximately 150,000 barrels of oil produced daily are produced by the American company Chevron, which increased its extraction after receiving a license from the United States at the end of last year.
Later, the Italian oil companies ENI and the Spanish Repsol also received a license from the US to operate in Venezuela, while Tellechea announced the signing of several agreements with national and international investors (of which no details were provided because it is strategic information, according to the official). Despite all this, failed to reach the much-desired million barrels per day that Maduro has been asking for for several years.
Last June, during a campaign tour for the July 28 presidential elections, Maduro criticized the long lines of vehicles at gas stations in Barinas and also demanded that the black market of fuel be solved.
“Coming here to the avenue I found a huge queue of motorcyclists. Minister Tellechea, president of PDVSA, you come to me tomorrow at 9 in the morning to Barinas and solve this problem for me here in Barinas. Enough of excuses,” Maduro told his followers at a political event.
So, Tellechea traveled the next morning to Barinas to inspect the service stations, with the aim of applying the necessary corrective measures to guarantee the normalization of fuel distribution in the state. The sale of gasoline was regulated, but this did not save him from being re-appointed to new directions.
*Read also: Meet the new board of directors of PDVSA published in the Official Gazette
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