Venezuelan American Petroleum Association

What Venezuelan American Petroleum Association does

The Venezuelan American Petroleum Association (VAPA) is a Texas-incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional organization founded in July 2019 and headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. It operates as a membership association serving Venezuelan energy industry professionals — primarily geoscientists, engineers, and executives based in the U.S. energy corridor around Houston — with the stated mission of connecting Venezuelan talent with global opportunities and supporting the rehabilitation of Venezuela's energy sector.

VAPA's product surface is an integrated portfolio of member-facing programs: a tiered Membership Program (Student $5/year, In Transition $30/year, Active $60/year); weekly Webinars on energy trends, economic analysis, and Venezuela developments; a Digital Library archiving 283+ recorded webinars spanning 2020–2026; the VAPA Links mentorship program linking students and young professionals with industry experts; and VAPA ResPro, a professional responsibility and ethics program. Distribution is through the vapa-us.org website, GoTo and YouTube for virtual events, Instagram (948+ followers) for organic social, and in-person events such as the AAPG Venezuela Symposium 2026 and Bahía Oil & Gas Energy.

The business model is a nonprofit membership-and-donation model rather than a commercial revenue model. Funding comes from individual membership dues, tiered donations ($500–$4,000+), and sponsorship from allied organizations. No funding rounds, acquisitions, or equity investment are disclosed. Governance rests with a 2025–2027 elected Board of Directors and a ten-member Advisory Board of industry experts; the organization has 1–10 employees and no parent company or venture backing.

Name

Venezuelan American Petroleum Association

Legal name

Venezuelan-American Petroleum Association

Website

https://vapa-us.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

VAPA is a Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2019 that runs a membership association for Venezuelan energy professionals — offering tiered memberships, weekly webinars, a 283+ webinar digital library, and mentorship through VAPA Links.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

The Woodlands

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

VAPA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional membership organization that connects Venezuelan energy professionals with global opportunities through tiered annual memberships ($5-$60), a 283+ webinar digital library, weekly educational webinars, a mentorship program (VAPA Links), and special industry events. Its offerings center on networking, education, and career development for Venezuelan energy sector professionals and students worldwide.

Product overview

VAPA is a non-profit professional organization offering a unified ecosystem of professional development programs for Venezuelan energy professionals. The portfolio centers on VAPA Links (mentorship), VAPA ResPro (ethics), Weekly Webinars (educational content), Digital Library (content archive), and Membership Program (access to all resources). These interconnected offerings provide networking, education, mentorship, and career development services to build skills and connections for Venezuela's energy sector rehabilitation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Membership Program
• VAPA Links
• VAPA ResPro
• Weekly Webinars
• Digital Library

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE): European-based multi-disciplinary association for geoscientists and engineers. EAGE forums are explicitly cited as a VAPA participation channel, indicating direct overlap in events and educational content.
• American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG): Large global professional society for petroleum geoscientists. AAPG directly overlaps with VAPA's professional association mission and is the convener of the AAPG Venezuela Symposium 2026 in which VAPA participates.
• Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE): The largest individual-member organization for petroleum engineers worldwide. SPE competes for the same energy-professional membership wallet share as VAPA and offers overlapping webinars, conferences, and digital content.
• Energy Workforce & Technology Council: Houston-based trade association representing energy services and technology companies. Comparable in serving the Houston energy ecosystem with professional development, networking, and education programming similar to VAPA.
• World Petroleum Council: International oil and gas industry organization promoting dialogue and knowledge sharing. VAPA's 'global network uniting Venezuelan and American energy expertise' positioning parallels WPC's convening role at a larger scale.
• Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG): Global professional society for geophysicists. SEG overlaps with VAPA's technical audience and educational programming, particularly around geophysics content featured in VAPA's webinar library.

Regional players

• Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE): Intergovernmental Latin American energy organization promoting regional integration and energy policy. Comparable to VAPA in its Latin America energy focus but operates at a policy/governmental level rather than member-networking level.
• Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: Regional business association serving Hispanic professionals and businesses in Houston. Comparable as a diaspora-focused professional networking organization in the same Houston market where VAPA is headquartered.

Direct peers

• Asociación de Ingenieros de Petróleo de Venezuela: Historic Venezuelan petroleum engineering professional body focused on the same national energy talent pool VAPA seeks to connect with global opportunities. Closest direct peer in terms of mission and member base.
• Petroleum Society of Venezuela (Sociedad Venezolana de Ingenieros de Petróleo): A Venezuelan-origin petroleum engineering society historically aligned with the same professional constituency VAPA serves. It is the most directly comparable peer given shared mission around Venezuelan energy professionals.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/vapa.us
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vapaus

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Venezuelan American Petroleum Association