Maha Capital seeks US approval to buy stake in Venezuelan oil firm

By Marta Nogueira RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Swedish investment platform Maha Capital (MAHAa.ST) is seeking approval from the United States to acquire an indirect minority stake in a PDVSA-controlled oil firm, Maha’s chairman of the board, Paulo Thiago Mendonca, told Reuters on Friday. The firm has until May to exercise an option for a majority stake in a Novonor (ODBES.UL) subsidiary which owns 40% of PetroUrdaneta, a small oil firm that owns underdeveloped oil fields in Venezuela. If finalized, Maha’s deal would mark one of the first entries by a foreign firm into the Venezuelan oil industry after U.S. President Donald Trump encouraged investments following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in early January. “We are closely following the directions of the United States to see how to move forward,” Mendonca said. The onshore fields, which used to produce hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day decades ago, are controlled by Venezuelan state-run oil firm PDVSA, which has a 60% stake in PetroUrdaneta. Mendonca said he sees “gigantic” opportunities for oil firms in Venezuela, citing recent remarks by the country’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who said she would present a proposal to reform the country’s hydrocarbon law, creating conditions for new investments. “Small and medium-sized groups will be the first to enter, because they have speed and an appetite for risk,” said Mendonca. UNDERDEVELOPED ASSETS Maha Capital has experience with the oil industry, Mendonca said, citing the company’s oil investments in the U.S. and Oman. Maha also used to own shares in Brazil’s Brava Energia (BRAV3.SA) but divested them as part of a move to focus on fintech investments. In a turnaround, the Swedish firm controlled by Brazilian fund manager Starboard now plans to invest an undisclosed amount to develop PetroUrdaneta’s fields in Maracaibo Basin, in Venezuela’s northwestern state of Zulia. PetroUrdaneta’s wells produced up to 250,000 barrels of oil per day back in the 1950s, but decades of low investment made production fall to around 1,500 bpd by 2020, according to a Maha presentation. PetroUrdaneta’s production could rise to 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day with Maha’s investments, Mendonca said, with fields still having around 400 million barrels of recoverable oil in reservoirs. “It’s a giant field, there’s still a lot to extract,” Mendonca said.