GECF Secretary General Joins VEW 2027 as Venezuela Opens Gas Sector to Investment

Philip Mshelbila joins the VEW 2027 speaker lineup as Venezuela advances Loran, Dragon and Perla alongside new gas-sector investment.

CARACAS, VENEZUELA, October 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Philip Mshelbila, Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), has been confirmed as a speaker at Venezuela Energy Week (VEW) 2027. His participation brings the leadership of the world's foremost gas producers' organization to Caracas as Venezuela opens its gas sector to international capital and moves its offshore resources toward development.

Venezuela is one of 12 full members of the GECF, which collectively hold 70% of the world's proven natural gas reserves. The country's membership places its emerging gas investment agenda within a producer group that includes major exporters such as Qatar, Russia, Algeria and Nigeria. That agenda is gaining momentum as Venezuela advances offshore developments and opens its gas sector to greater international participation. The GECF's Annual Gas Market Report 2026 highlights the country's recent Hydrocarbons Law reform among the policy developments reshaping its investment landscape.

Venezuela is fast emerging as one of the most compelling gas frontiers in the Western Hemisphere, with an estimated 200 trillion cubic feet of conventional reserves – around 70% of South America's total – now open to the majors that shape global LNG supply. In August, bp, XRG and UCC secured the Phase II license for the offshore Loran field, part of a cross-border accumulation with Trinidad and Tobago that can draw on the island nation's established LNG infrastructure. The award followed Shell's Phase I license in June, while Eni and Repsol are advancing plans with PDVSA to expand output from the offshore Perla field and begin exporting gas as LNG by the end of 2031.

Venezuela's LNG ambitions align with the trajectory set out in the GECF's Global Gas Outlook 2055, which projects global gas demand rising 31% by mid-century. The long-term projection shows LNG's share of traded gas climbing from 46% to 65%. Member countries are expected to deliver 65% of net production growth over the period, lifting their share of global output from 38% to 44% by 2055. With Venezuela's offshore developments oriented toward LNG and regional export routes, the country is positioned to contribute a significant share of that expansion.

Oil has anchored Venezuela's investment story for decades, but the advancement of Loran, Perla and other offshore developments is giving gas a larger role in the country's next investment cycle. Mshelbila's participation at VEW 2027 brings that opportunity into a wider global gas conversation at a time when Venezuela is seeking the capital, partnerships and infrastructure needed to move its resources toward production and export.

As international operators expand their positions and new export routes take shape, the country's ability to convert its resource base into commercially viable projects will be a key measure of its re-entry into global energy markets.

Venezuela Energy Week 2027 takes place February 22-25 at the Simon Bolivar Convention Center in Caracas. Organized by Energy Capital & Power and taking place under the patronage of Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, PDVSA and the Ministry of Hydrocarbons, VEW is the country's flagship oil and gas investment platform. To register or learn more about sponsorship and speaking opportunities, visit www.venezuelaenergyweek.com.

Venezuela Energy Week
Energy Capital and Power
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