U.S. Petrochemical Investments in Venezuela: Implications for Brazil

In a recent interview with Plásticos em Revista, Simone de Faria, Director of Townsend Solutions for Latin America, offered incisive perspectives on the future of Venezuela in the petrochemical landscape and the strategic imperatives facing Brazil.

“The removal of Maduro from power in Venezuela will certainly create a massive window of opportunity for the petrochemical sector across the Americas. However, the construction of new complexes within the country remains unlikely in the short term, as it faces practical barriers that are difficult to overcome quickly—particularly regarding infrastructure, which has been decimated in recent years. Even in a post‑Maduro political transition, the immediate focus of industry giants would be the rehabilitation of crude oil extraction to supply refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, which were historically designed to process Venezuelan heavy crude.

Establishing petrochemical infrastructure requires legal and institutional stability that can take decades to consolidate; therefore, Venezuela is more likely to re‑enter the market initially as an oil exporter, leaving refining and conversion to operational plants in the U.S. or other regions. Regardless, the return of the country that holds the world’s largest oil reserves is beneficial to the entire global petrochemical supply chain.

Brazil must act decisively to invest and avoid remaining dependent on naphtha imports or, worse, resin imports—which come at a high cost to converters due to market protectionism. We must invest not only in oil exploration but also in refining capacity. Beyond Venezuela, we face growing competition from Guyana and neighboring Argentina, where investments in the Vaca Muerta shale gas reserves are being intensified under the Javier Milei administration. Such projects create a ripple effect: from oil and gas to olefins and aromatics, from basic chemicals to resins, and finally, from resins to plastics processing. Without immediate action, Brazil risks being left behind, merely watching the ships pass by our coast.”

You can read the full interview with Simone de Faria in Plásticos em Revista here: https://plasticosemrevista.com.br/pesquisa-de-opiniao-32/

‍