Touchstone Exploration president and chief executive officer Paul Baay says Venezuela presents an “interesting opportunity” for investment, despite ongoing uncertainty stemming from tensions with the United States.

Speaking with reporters at the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago’s 2026 Energy Conference and Trade Show at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain on January 26, Baay said the perceived risks in Venezuela could also offer advantages for smaller operators such as the Canada-based oil and gas company.

“For us smaller producers that can maybe take a little more risk, I think it’s a pretty interesting opportunity. The trick is going to be timing, how you take advantage of that,” he said.

“We’re still trying to figure that out a little bit; but if you look at the LOA (Lease Operatorship Agreements) properties we have on the southern part of the island with our partner Heritage, those are mature fields that we can go in—workover fields—bring them back on production and increase production. That’s the kind of model we can take with Venezuela, for instance.”

Baay added that T&T’s proximity to Venezuela, along with the similarities in geology between the two countries, could help to expedite exploration and development.

For now, however, Baay said the company remains focused on T&T.

“We stay focused in Trinidad because we’ve got a very big foothold here; so we’re not trying to lose focus here and go somewhere else.”

Addressing challenges in the local market, including limited access to foreign exchange, Baay said these conditions can also create opportunities for businesses already established in the country.

“You talk about it being tricky here a little bit, but I think it’s actually the opportunity, too. Once you’re here and you’re in place, there are some real economies of scale that we can apply in what we want to do,” he said.

Baay acknowledged that Touchstone Exploration has faced challenges in the market, which led to a reduction in staff. However, he said he expects the company’s workforce to grow as production at its wells increases.

“We’ve downsized a little bit in the last year and that is a result of some of the wells not performing as well as we originally thought, so we had to make those adjustments. But as we start to ramp up here with the new acquisition we’ve done, and as we do more drilling, we use more local content—which is also a tricky term in Trinidad, because local content can be ‘local content’ and ‘local local content’ right down to the neighbourhoods we operate in. As we move out of an area and into another, there is a perception that some of the jobs are lost, but generally, they get picked up wherever we’re moving to.”

Baay also pointed to the completed drilling of the company’s Central Block as a major recent development, noting that despite a slow start, he is optimistic about the year ahead and expects 2026 to be a busy one for the company.