Chevron confirmed Wednesday that it will pour more than $7 billion into Venezuela over the next five years, a bet aimed at more than doubling its production there to roughly 600,000 barrels a day while keeping total operating costs under $20 per barrel. The announcement, formally unveiled in Venezuela, marks one of the largest single commitments yet in Washington's push to reopen the country's oil sector following the ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
According to the Associated Press, Chevron has held a continuous presence in Venezuela since 1923, making it the only major U.S. oil company still operating there at scale. The AP reports that Chevron received additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt as part of the deal, building on an established position in the region. Chevron chairman and CEO Mike Wirth said the improved terms and additional acreage will strengthen the company's portfolio and support low-cost oil growth, adding that the expanded position reflects confidence in Venezuela's resource potential and investment competitiveness, per the same report.
Chevron's own announcement fills in more of the map. Under the updated agreement, the company's Petroindependencia joint venture, in which Chevron holds a 49% stake, received development rights to the Carabobo-1 and Carabobo-2-South-A areas of the Orinoco Belt, according to a release from Chevron. That follows an earlier April 2026 asset swap that had already expanded the company's working interest and field allocations in the country.
Washington's Bigger Push Into Venezuelan Crude
Chevron's move is part of a broader diplomatic effort. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who was expected to visit Venezuela on Wednesday per a U.S. official who briefed reporters on the announcement, said during a trip to Caracas that new energy agreements signed with international firms — including Chevron, Italy's Eni, India's ONGC, Colombia's GeoPark, and GE Vernova — could more than double Venezuela's total crude production in the coming years, according to SANA. Trump aides have described Venezuela's oil as a path away from reliance on Middle Eastern crude, per the Associated Press.
A separate arrangement adds another layer to the picture. The White House has confirmed it is partnering with private operator North American Blue Energy Partners on a 100-year lease over 17 Venezuelan fields holding 65 billion barrels in reserves, according to the Associated Press. That deal grants the U.S. government a 35% equity stake in the parent entity and a guaranteed 20% of oil output without direct taxpayer investment, per NOTUS. President Trump has also included a Pentagon stake in the profits from that deal, according to the AP.
Rivals Hold Back, Citing Old Wounds
Not every major U.S. producer is following Chevron's lead. ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have remained on the sidelines despite encouragement from the Trump administration, as both companies continue seeking billions of dollars in restitution stemming from the uncompensated nationalization of their Venezuelan assets by Hugo Chávez in 2007, according to WTAQ. Chevron remains the only U.S. oil company with a major presence in the country and the second-largest U.S. oil company overall, per the AP.
The scale of what Venezuela is trying to rebuild is enormous. Venezuelan crude production peaked above 3 million barrels per day in the late 1990s before collapsing amid underinvestment, state mismanagement, and sanctions, recovering only to roughly 1.1 million to 1.25 million barrels per day by mid-2026, according to Reuters reporting cited by Business Standard. Analysts said it will take years to revive Venezuela's oil production, per the Associated Press, which also describes the country's oil sector as being in disarray after years of neglect.
Fiscal Terms and Legal Questions Still Loom
Venezuela's government has laid out specific fiscal terms for the broader 25-year bilateral oil framework: $19 from every barrel sold is meant to go directly to the national treasury, generating projected total national revenue of up to $209.3 billion based on a $65-per-barrel baseline, according to teleSUR English. Energy experts have questioned whether acting leader Delcy Rodríguez has the legal authority to grant the 100-year rights over the 17 fields tied to the NABEP arrangement, and whether future Venezuelan or American administrations might overturn the agreements altogether, per the Associated Press — questions Hoodline previously flagged as a legal minefield.
The renewed push into Venezuela follows a turbulent stretch for Chevron's operations there. In March 2025, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 41A ordering a temporary wind-down of Chevron's Venezuelan joint ventures, reversing a 2022 Biden-era concession after citing Maduro's failure to meet electoral reform conditions, according to Holland & Knight. That volatility eased only after a U.S. military operation in January 2026 led to Maduro's capture; he and his wife, Cilia Flores, later pleaded not guilty to federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges in Manhattan federal court, as Hoodline reported at the time. President Trump has pressed U.S. businesses to restore a presence in Venezuela ever since, pursuing the country's oil reserves as part of a wider effort that also saw hedge fund Elliott Investment Management secure a $5.9 billion purchase of PDVSA's U.S. refining arm, Citgo Petroleum, in a court-ordered auction.
