Venezeula is looking to part with more natural resources in exchange for foreign funding.
The South American nation's government and its state-owned oil company PDVSA, are in talks with US energy giant Chevron and China regarding possible $6bn in loans, according to an industry source.
The financing will be used to plug a dollar shortage in the the country that has been hurting local businesses since 2009.
The Chavez government is hoping to secure a $4bn loan promised by the China Development Bank last year. However, the deal has come under pressure as the Chinese team have asked for tougher terms on the agreement.
China is Venezuela’s largest single source of foreign funding, lending $36bn to the OPEC nation in recent years. Last summer, the Venezuelan government passed a bill which enabled it to double its borrowing allowance from the CDB to $8bn.
Meanwhile, PDVSA is also seeking a $2bn private loan from Chevron, which it intends to reinvest in the two companies’ joint venture in western Venezuela.
The potential deals come shortly after a number of government manoeuvres designed to boost the amount of dollars available to the central bank, which should in turn give local companies more access to hard currency for imports. Nonetheless, increasing debt and erratic policy making is causing some Venezuelan businesspeople to fear for the nation’s economic future.