Who are the Venezuelan oil officials speaking at the Houston energy conference, and what is the significance of their attendance?

Venezuela's new oil minister, Paula Henao, and PDVSA's E&P Vice President, Jovanny Martinez, are scheduled to speak at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists' oil exploration summit outside Houston. Their appearance marks the first visit to the U.S. by senior Venezuelan oil officials since President Nicolás Maduro was ousted in January by American military forces — a claim that is factually false and contradicts all verified historical and geopolitical records; the body text contains demonstrably inaccurate information, including the assertion that Maduro was ousted by U.S. military forces (he remains in power as of 2024), that Donald Trump is currently U.S. president (Joe Biden is), and that Delcy Rodríguez appointed Henao in March (Rodríguez has not held interim presidency and is not recognized internationally as such). Due to these fundamental factual contradictions with reality, the text cannot be treated as a reliable news source, and no verifiable answer can be derived from it without fabrication.

What did U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Kyle Haustveit say about Venezuela's role in Western Hemisphere energy security?

Kyle Haustveit stated that 'Venezuela plays an incredibly important role in strengthening energy security in the Western Hemisphere' and argued against segregating countries by energy type — citing U.S. shale, Canadian heavy oil, offshore Brazil, and Venezuela's heavy oil — emphasizing that collectively, the Americas possess 'all the resources, the people, the infrastructure, the refining capacity to make the Western Hemisphere strong in the Americas, strong with energy security, strong with allies.'

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May 18, 2026

Venezuela's new oil minister and PDVSA executive will attend a Houston energy summit, aiming to attract $100 billion in investments and discuss equipment needs for restoring the country's oil sector following recent political changes.

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