China and Russia Remain Key Allies for Venezuela But More Financial Support Will Come at the Price of Sharing an Increasing Control of the Country’s Oil and Gas Sector

“Financial support to keep the Maduro regime alive will certainly come at an increasingly high cost for Venezuela in the form of loss of autonomy from Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A (PDVSA) to develop, operate and export oil and gas production from its own fields. Chinese and Russian companies, backed by their governments, have taken the lead as being the lenders of last resort but mainly for reasons that go beyond a short-term business investment rationale. However, the risk exposure in Venezuela continues to increase and Chinese and Russian governments won't give anything for free. More…