The beating heart of Venezuela's oil revival is not in the glittering bubble of the capital, Caracas, but more than a six-hour drive southeast, in a place called El Tigre.
Private jets now routinely land at the modest airport on the outskirts of the city. Venezuelans are returning after years abroad to fill positions at the growing number of service and supply companies that are expanding or setting up shop there. There is almost no space left to rent in modern office buildings, while rents for furnished townhouses have risen 33% since the start of the year.
“In October, we more than doubled the volume of equipment transported and tripled the number of companies served compared to February,” said Greg Díaz, head of Humble, Texas-based carrier Frontier Forwarders.
The explosion of activity in this city on the edge of the Orinoco Belt — a vast deposit of pitch-like oil — is a fragile indicator of Venezuela's much-vaunted recovery, marked by growing enthusiasm to resume drilling and reclaim wells after years of low investment, sanctions and an exodus of foreign producers. El Tigre's proximity to existing operations made the city one of the first bases for this resumption.
The frenzy occurs before companies have even extracted a single new barrel of oil. They are renting offices and yards, importing equipment and hiring employees for operations that, in many cases, will take months to start. Blackouts still last for long periods.
El Tigre's timid awakening comes after US forces captured Nicolás Maduro in January, paving the way for the rise of interim president Delcy Rodríguez, whose US-backed government moved quickly to attract foreign capital. Venezuela overhauled its oil legislation earlier this year, reducing taxes and royalties and giving private companies more space to operate in areas long dominated by state-run Petróleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA.
Some companies began betting on an opening long before Maduro's fall. Turkish operator Çan2 Termik invested in Venezuelan provider Denarius Pumping Services, in El Tigre, in 2024. In September, Florida-based affiliate Denarius Holding Group signed a contract with PDVSA to recover and drill a nearby field, as part of a US$400 million investment plan.
“We saw the enormous growth that can result from the right investments and regulations and we thought we could replicate that in Venezuela,” said Zehra Zeynep Dereli, vice president of Denarius Holding Group.
COMING BACK TO LIFE
Oil has shaped El Tigre since the 1930s, when Standard Oil discovered the characteristic heavy oil of the Orinoco Belt and the town transformed into a bustling industrial hub. Today, the city of about 300,000 is surrounded by aging wells, pipelines and storage facilities, while oil produced nearby is flown north to PDVSA facilities on the Caribbean coast.
El Tigre —"the tiger" in Spanish— is dotted with statues of the feline, including a roadside sculpture that became a national meme. Now, the tiger symbolizes an industry that is once again preparing to take the plunge.
Oil companies that signed agreements with PDVSA in recent months have up to 120 days to inspect fields and facilities, assess remaining reserves and environmental damage, and prepare production plans for approval. Some hope to take full control of operations and begin work by the end of the year.
Since July, shipments have included, in addition to machinery for oil fields, mobile clinics, ambulances and fire trucks, Díaz said.
Colombian GeoPark, Brazilian Alvorada Oil & Gas and American Weatherford International are among the companies bringing in personnel, including Venezuelans recruited from the diaspora. Weatherford alone expanded its specialized workforce in the country tenfold.
Alvorada has 250 employees in Venezuela and manages its Orinoco operations from El Tigre, where it also maintains an equipment factory. The company plans to invest US$70 million in its current operations in 2027, said founder Paulo Buzanelli.
The city's main hotels are often full. The room occupancy rate at Eurobuilding El Tigre jumped from 35% a year earlier to 87% in October, according to Eduardo Zarikian, CEO of Eurobuilding Hotels Group.
Rodríguez told state TV that he expects a greater increase in production from December, when recently signed agreements begin to take effect.
But everything is still at the beginning. Venezuela's oil production has remained at around 1.2 million barrels per day for months, approximately a third of the last sustained peak of around 3 million recorded in the 1990s. Rodríguez says the country expects almost US$76 billion in oil and gas investments over the next five years.
For some workers in the oil sector, the recovery still seems superficial. Engineer Yasmina Requena, an oil field equipment evaluator, says companies are renting industrial yards for one year instead of five. “They are adopting a cautious stance, as if to say: ‘Let’s see what happens’.”
RENTALS ON THE RISE
The local real estate market is also feeling the change. Monthly rents for furnished townhouses in San Tomé, a suburb sought after by foreign workers in the oil sector, have risen from around US$1,500 a year ago to as much as US$4,500 — an increase of 200%.
The boom is spreading to nearby Puerto La Cruz, a regional hub for PDVSA and oil companies, where asking prices for some homes have risen from $120,000 to around $380,000, said Víctor Morales, head of the local oil chamber.
Work in the Orinoco Belt is progressing faster than in Lake Maracaibo because most of the operations take place on land, said Alexis Medina, director of a well maintenance company based in nearby Anaco. Many companies are focusing first on existing fields, where wells and infrastructure can be restored without larger investments.
In some cases, money and equipment arrive faster than companies can find workers trained to use them. Certification courses for heavy machinery operators, contract specialists and environmental professionals are in high demand.
In the richest neighborhoods of El Tigre, previously stalled townhouse projects have resumed. “Companies are positioning themselves,” said Morales. "But we will start to see results in 2028."
STILL IN THE DARK
For many residents, however, there is still little sign that Venezuela's latest oil rush has improved their daily lives.
Reliable running water and 24-hour electricity are still luxuries in some areas of El Tigre, where deteriorating public services often affect homes, businesses and schools. Power outages often leave water pumping stations out of commission, even though the city sits on a large aquifer.
Shopping centers still have empty rooms that were previously occupied by banks, retailers and small businesses.
"I don't see any change. Money isn't flowing through the streets," said Remo Di Marcantonio, owner of a local hardware store. "There's a little more movement, no doubt, but nowhere near as much as there was 20 years ago."
Requena, the engineer, finds it difficult to work in these desolate conditions. "Open sewage runs through some streets, and businesses are forced to close. It's a shame," she said. "Oil industry activity simply isn't what it used to be — at least not yet."
