Venezuelan state-run company PDVSA sought to pressure its foreign private partners to publicly declare interest in continued investment in the Orinoco heavy oil belt this week despite aggressive US sanctions and a political standoff over humanitarian aid as the South American nation's political crisis showed no sign of ending.

PDVSA has joint ventures with companies including US supermajor Chevron, Russia’s Rosneft, Norway’s Equinor, France’s Total and Spain’s Repsol in the Orinoco belt, a vast oil-rich region that holds billions of barrels in recoverable volumes.