EXCLUSIVE: Former Rep. Bob Livingston Registers to Lobby on 'Status of an Oil Field in Venezuela'

Former Rep. Bob Livingston, the Louisiana Republican who chaired the House Appropriations Committee in the 1990s, has registered to lobby for the U.S. arm of a Venezuelan oil and construction company on "the status of an oil field in Venezuela," according to a federal lobbying filing reviewed by The Digital Free Press.

The Livingston Group, LLC filed the registration on Wednesday, Oct. 21, for WESCA Holding, Inc., which lists an address in Weston, Florida. The filing describes the client as the "U.S. holding co. for a leading engineering, construction, and operations co. in Venezuela." It gives Oct. 7, 2026, as the date the work began.

The filing lists the lobbying issue the same way under three categories, foreign relations, energy and fuel, gas and oil: "Status of an oil field in Venezuela." It does not name the field or say which agencies or offices will be contacted. Lobbying registrations do not have to disclose fees, and this one does not.

Three lobbyists are named: Livingston himself, listed as a former member of the U.S. House; J. Allen Martin, listed as Livingston's former chief of staff; and Cathryn Kingsbury.

Money From St. Kitts and Nevis

The filing lists two foreign entities. One is West-Construcciones, C.A., of Maracaibo, Venezuela, with no contribution listed. The other is Starshine Consultants Ltd., with an address in Charlestown, St. Kitts and Nevis, which the filing says is contributing $25,000 to the lobbying. The filing does not explain Starshine's connection to WESCA.

West-Construcciones, which calls itself WESCA, says on its website that it has worked in Venezuela for more than four decades, became "a fully integrated oil and gas operator" in 2017, and "has secured the opportunity to operate a greenfield development within the Orinoco Belt." In September, oilfield services giant Halliburton signed memorandums of understanding with Brazil's Eneva and with WESCA to pursue oil and gas development in Venezuela, World Oil reported. The magazine said the WESCA agreement "will focus on field evaluation and development planning."

Part of a Venezuela Lobbying Rush

The registration comes as companies large and small hire Washington lobbyists to work on Venezuela since the ouster of Nicolás Maduro. The Washington Sun reported on Oct. 21 that between July and September, at least 15 smaller and midsize companies spent more than $2 million lobbying the federal government only on Venezuela issues. That report did not mention WESCA.

Livingston was chosen by House Republicans in 1998 to succeed Newt Gingrich as speaker but stepped aside before taking the post and left Congress in 1999. He founded The Livingston Group, a Washington lobbying firm, soon after leaving Congress.

The Digital Free Press found no news coverage of the WESCA registration before publication beyond a one-line listing of new registrations in a trade newsletter.

The Digital Free Press reached out to The Livingston Group and to WESCA for comment on Oct. 23; no response was received by publication.

Hold Everyone Accountable.

Sources: Lobbying registration, The Livingston Group for WESCA Holding, Inc. (posted Oct. 21, 2026): https://lda.senate.gov/filings/public/filing/9ff1c030-ef6f-4070-9bfa-24368bbf67f8/print/ ; WESCA company website: https://www.wesca.com/about-wesca/ ; World Oil, Sept. 21, 2026: https://www.worldoil.com/news/2026/9/21/halliburton-signs-venezuela-oil-and-gas-agreements-with-eneva-wesca/ ; The Washington Sun, Oct. 21, 2026: https://www.notus.org/energy-environment/united-states-oil-gas-lobbying-venezuela