Venezuela’s oil revival runs into a power grid leaving families in the dark

When the power fails at a clinic in Valencia, the machine filtering Onasis Munoz’s blood stops too. The 34-year-old needs dialysis three times a week because his kidneys can no longer do that work. But outages now occur daily and last about seven hours, he told Al Jazeera. The clinic’s emergency batteries are depleted and its generator no longer works. At home, more blackouts leave him struggling to recover in the heat.

His experience exposes a growing strain in a country trying to revive its oil industry while keeping electricity flowing to homes and businesses. Outages have driven demonstrations against interim President Delcy Rodriguez’s government, including pot-banging protests, roadblocks and burning tyres. Some cuts are deliberate, as authorities ration electricity. For businesses without affordable backup power, the disruption means rearranging working hours around an unreliable grid.

The scale of the problem has widened sharply. A study by consultancy ANOVA Policy Research found that 62.8 percent of Venezuelan households experienced daily electricity cuts in 2026, up from 37.1 percent in 2024. Just 6.9 percent reported uninterrupted supply. In Naguanagua, bakery owner Manuel Reyes told Al Jazeera that repeated outages made steady production impossible. His family sometimes keeps the bakery open beyond midnight to use whatever hours of electricity are available.

More oil, more pressure on electricity

Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, and production is recovering. According to figures from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cited by Al Jazeera, output rose from 924,000 barrels a day in January to 1.201 million in August, an increase of almost 30 percent. Energy specialist Nelson Hernandez said that recovery is adding demand to an electricity system already under severe strain.

Hernandez estimates that extracting, pumping, transporting and refining oil requires around 1,600 megawatts or more of power. He said protecting electricity supplies to oil fields shifts the burden of shortages towards households and commercial users. The oil expansion follows reforms allowing greater foreign investment under pressure from US President Donald Trump. Those changes came after a US military operation in January abducted and imprisoned then-President Nicolas Maduro. Trump has also eased oil export restrictions and expanded the US role in the industry.

Weather and worn-out infrastructure

The Rodriguez administration attributes the electricity crisis to El Niño, a climate pattern. About 90 percent of Venezuela’s electricity comes from hydropower, which uses moving water to generate power and is vulnerable to drought and extreme heat. Previous governments blamed foreign sanctions for weakening the economy. Hernandez acknowledged the weather’s impact but argued that poor management, inadequate planning and ageing technology are central to the outages.

“Practically the entire crisis stems from the systematic neglect of the infrastructure,” energy specialist Nelson Hernandez told Al Jazeera.

The costs extend beyond lost business. In Maracay, Mileidy Blanco rises at 4am to prepare food before the electricity goes out. She told Al Jazeera that her six-year-old daughter broke down after outages disrupted school, home and dance class. Blanco sought help from a psychologist, who suggested games and park visits during blackouts. Her daughter now joins the pot-banging protests outside their home.

The government says it plans to add 1,300 megawatts of generating capacity in the year’s final quarter. It has also introduced legal measures requiring energy companies to invest in their own electricity infrastructure, reducing pressure on the public grid. Industry experts say durable improvements need major spending on ageing plants and more local and renewable generation. The next test is whether those measures can stabilise supply while the oil industry’s electricity needs keep households and businesses under pressure.