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Chevron’s Venezuela expansion
Chevron confirmed it will expand operations in Venezuela after President Donald Trump announced a deal to develop the nation’s oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits, with Chevron saying it has been assigned additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt where it already has active operations.
“Chevron confirmed that it will expand operations in Venezuela”
Chevron said it plans to invest more than $7 billion over the next five years and aims to more than double its current production to about 600,000 barrels a day, while CEO Mike Wirth said in a prepared statement that "Chevron's history in Venezuela spans more than a century."
The expansion comes as Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven reserves at more than 303 billion barrels of crude oil, according to OPEC’s 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin, but its daily production is just over 1 million barrels amid degraded infrastructure and international sanctions.
The U.S. stake in the broader arrangement is tied to North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), with the White House confirming Monday it is partnering with NABEP as part of Trump’s push to tap into Venezuela’s oil industry.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in Caracas that "The mission is to bring peace, freedom, opportunity and prosperity to the people of Venezuela," framing the agreements as a step toward investment and jobs.
Skepticism and legal questions
Energy experts cited by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said the arrangement will take years to revive Venezuela’s oil industry, which they described as in disarray after years of neglect.
The same article raised questions about whether Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, has the authority to give NABEP 100-year rights over 17 oil fields with reserves of 65 billion barrels, and it noted that Venezuela’s constitution requires such arrangements to be approved by the National Assembly, which has not happened.
Ian Vásquez, vice president for international studies at the Cato Institute, wrote that "The deal lacks legitimacy since it was agreed to with a dictatorship" and argued that U.S. pressure would undermine confidence in the arrangement.
In a separate account, the AP said a U.S. official briefed reporters that Chevron’s officials and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are expected to visit Venezuela on Wednesday where the new investment will be formally unveiled, and it said the official spoke on condition of anonymity.
The AP also reported that the deal would create a new company where the Pentagon would take a 35% ownership stake and the State Department would have the right to buy 20% of the oil produced at cost.
What comes next
Chevron’s expansion is described by Reuters as part of a broader push to expand output in Venezuela, with Reuters saying the announcement comes just days after Trump unveiled an arrangement involving a fifth of Venezuela’s oil reserves and the American government taking an equity stake in a private oil firm operating there.
“total production costs are expected to be less than $20 per barrel”
Reuters reported that Chevron’s Petroindependencia joint venture will expand to include two adjacent areas in the Carabobo region in Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt, and it said Chevron’s new agreements provide enhanced fiscal, commercial and legal terms to protect long-term investments.
Reuters also quoted Chevron CEO Mike Wirth saying, "Chevron’s history in Venezuela spans more than a century," and it said total production costs are expected to be less than $20 per barrel.
In a separate Reuters report from Caracas, several international energy firms including Eni, GE Vernova and Chevron committed to project expansions to boost oil output in Venezuela in a signing ceremony overseen by interim President Delcy Rodriguez and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
That Reuters account said the industry produces about 1.25 million barrels per day, far short of its 3 million bpd peak in the late 1990s, and it described the U.S. as spearheading a $100 billion investment plan that officials say will double Venezuela’s output in the coming years.