Suelopetrol seeks Spanish aid to protect Venezuelan oil interests

Suelopetrol Exploración y Producción, S. L., a Spanish company linked by investigators to the purchase of a villa used by former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos, has requested assistance from the Spanish government. Through the Spanish Economic and Commercial Office in Caracas, the company is seeking institutional collaboration to prevent the Venezuelan government from transferring its oil business to United States companies.

The request follows a change in the company’s ownership and leadership. Following a court ruling in Madrid, the Swiss firm Ruve Beratung & Treuhand AG, controlled by American citizen David Leonardo López Darquea, now holds 95% of Suelopetrol’s capital.

As a result of this restructuring, the company has removed Venezuelan businessman Henrique José Rodríguez Guillén from its management. According to reports from the Civil Guard’s Central Operative Unit (UCO), Rodríguez Guillén allegedly assisted commission agent Víctor de Aldama in facilitating the transaction involving the villa in Cádiz. The new administration aims to distance the firm from the ‘Koldo case’ and seeks official recognition of its current ownership and management by Venezuelan authorities.