Maduro capture puts Venezuela oil production agreements in doubt

Supporters of president Nicolas Maduro in Caracas demand his release from US custody. Picture: AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos

The future of billions of barrels of Venezuelan oil that foreign companies are entitled to under current agreements has been thrown into doubt following the US capture of the country's president Nicolás Maduro over the weekend.

State-owned Chinese and Russian companies have some of the biggest claims on the Latin American nation’s oil, Morgan Stanley analysts including Martijn Rats said in a note. Nevertheless, the significant assets are still far outweighed by the more than 200bn barrels held by Petroleos de Venezuela SA.