Venezuela has signed a gas export contract for the first time in its history

Venezuela has signed a gas export contract for the first time in its history, Acting President of the Republic Delcy Rodriguez said.

"Today, for the first time in our history, a contract for the commercialization of liquefied natural gas was signed. The first molecule of Venezuelan gas will be exported. We have stated this and now we are fulfilling this obligation," Rodriguez said, speaking at the National Council of Industrial Economics.

According to her, the contract was the result of the own efforts of the state oil and gas company PDVSA and confirmation of the chosen economic course. The Head of State recalled that PDVSA managed to bring oil production to the level of 1.2 million barrels per day — an indicator that has not been recorded since 2015.

Rodriguez stressed that foreign exchange earnings from hydrocarbon exports should not be used to import fuel, which the country now provides for itself. According to her, these funds are planned to be used for the social and economic development of Venezuela, including through the creation of sovereign funds.

She called strategic import substitution and economic diversification key elements of the government's economic program. She noted that the restoration of lending should serve to support the production sectors — agriculture, fisheries, agro-industrial complex and tourism, and not financial and currency speculation.