Market Update: We break down the business implications, market impact, and expert insights related to Market Update: Oil, the US and South Africa’s quiet link to Venezuela – Full Analysis.
Oil sits at the centre of South Africa’s otherwise modest trade relationship with Venezuela – and has now drawn the United States directly into the picture.
While trade between South Africa and Venezuela is minimal, official trade data shows that the two countries maintain diplomatic and trade relations, with energy long forming a key pillar of engagement.
Collaboration in the energy sector previously featured in bilateral discussions, with PetroSA holding exploration interests in Venezuela in the late 2000s in partnership with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company under earlier cooperation agreements.
That relationship has since weakened, as Venezuela’s reduced oil production and export capacity curtailed the scope for meaningful energy cooperation in recent years. Production has fallen by nearly 70% since the late 1990s.
However, Venezuela’s oil assets have once again come sharply into focus after a recent US military attack on the country, which holds some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, according to the BBC.
In the early hours of January 3, the United States undertook a military strike in Venezuela, targeting key government and military sites in Caracas and other strategic locations.
US President Donald Trump said the operation resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who were reportedly flown out of the country.
Trump said the action was intended to remove Maduro due to allegations of corruption, drug trafficking and undermining regional stability, adding that the US would temporarily oversee Venezuela until a safe transition could be arranged.
The US President also described the operation as both a law-enforcement effort and a move to secure Venezuela’s oil infrastructure.
South Africa and Venezuela established diplomatic relations in 1993, with both countries maintaining embassies.
A framework agreement on cooperation was signed in 2008, covering energy, mining and agriculture, and a joint bilateral commission was established to support cooperation, according to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
Despite this framework, trade flows remain modest.
Data compiled from international trade databases shows South Africa exported about $13 million worth of goods to Venezuela in 2024, mainly food preparations, vehicles, machinery and plastics.
Imports from Venezuela into South Africa were lower, at roughly $3 million (R48.9 million) in 2024, consisting largely of organic chemicals.
Oil imports, which once formed part of the relationship, have declined significantly over time.
Trade data indicates that overall volumes have fluctuated over the past decade and remain small compared with South Africa’s trade with major partners such as China, the EU and the US.
South Africa’s broader trade engagement with Latin America is shaped in part by the Southern African Customs Union–Mercosur preferential trade agreement.
While Venezuela was once a full member of Mercosur, its participation was suspended in 2016 for failing to meet the bloc’s democratic and economic commitments, limiting the practical impact of the agreement on bilateral trade.
Government documents describe Venezuela as a strategic political partner in Latin America under South-South cooperation frameworks, but trade figures suggest that economic engagement remains limited in scale.
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