Venezuela Reforms Oil Law as Lake Maracaibo Faces Ongoing Spills

A. The change followed pressure from the Trump Administration amid higher global oil prices and supply concerns linked to Persian Gulf volatility. About 4 million people live in Zulia state around Lake Maracaibo, where oil spills have been part of daily life for decades.

From 2021 to 2022 the number of reported spills rose from 77 to 84, and the government has not published spill data in the last four years.

Molero said beaches near the lake are heavily contaminated and used mainly by lower-income residents. Gustavo Carrasquel Parra, an activist who lived near the rigs for 27 years, said another spill is inevitable and described oil-coated feet that hurt local tourism after a spill two years ago.

Hundreds of thousands of people rely on the lake for drinking water, bathing and fishing. Exposure to heavy metals, oils and gas-flaring emissions is linked to neurotoxicity, cancer and cardiovascular disease. Land subsidence from past drilling has also increased flood risk in shoreline communities.

Machado Allison, a Venezuelan ecologist at Wesleyan University, said the country already has environmental laws requiring impact studies at each stage of extraction, but enforcement and judicial oversight have been weak. Venezuela’s constitution calls for such studies under Article 12.

U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela, declined to comment on its environmental role or future policy positions. Former PDVSA employee Juan Francisco Arminio said spills result from bad policies and corruption rather than industry practices themselves.

Jesus Aboud, a Venezuelan geophysicist, said companies have left behind environmental liabilities without obligation to restore sites. The interim government under Delcy Rodríguez has stated it wants new oil revenues partly directed toward cleanup, though no specific funding plan has been released.