Full story
Chevron expands in Venezuela
Chevron said it will expand its operations in Venezuela, including being assigned additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, just days after President Donald Trump announced an ambitious deal to develop Venezuela’s oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits.
“investing more than $7 billion over the next five years”
Chevron’s joint venture plans include investing more than $7 billion over the next five years and more than doubling production to approximately 600,000 barrels a day compared with 2026.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said, “Chevron’s history in Venezuela spans more than a century, and our expanded position reflects our confidence in the country’s deep resource potential.”
The announcement comes as Venezuela’s oil output is described as only about 1.1 to 1.2 million barrels per day, despite OPEC’s 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin saying Venezuela holds more than 303 billion barrels of proven reserves.
The Orinoco Belt expansion is also framed as part of a broader U.S. push, with an AP report saying Chevron officials and Energy Secretary Chris Wright were expected to visit Venezuela on Wednesday to formally unveil the new investment.
Officials, skepticism, and access
A U.S. official briefed reporters that Chevron is expected to announce the expansion after Trump’s deal, and the official said the company’s officials and Energy Secretary Chris Wright were expected to visit Venezuela on Wednesday to formally unveil the investment.
The same AP report says the White House confirmed it is partnering with North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) and that the sweeping agreement has been met with skepticism from analysts who questioned whether Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez has the legal authority to give the company 100-year rights over 17 oil fields with reserves of 65 billion barrels.
In a separate framing, Scripps News quotes Trump saying, “We have Exxon going in, we have Chevron going in. We have our big oil companies going in,” as Trump presses to get U.S. businesses to restore a presence in Venezuela.
Scripps News also reports that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that “No American firm knows how to operate in Venezuela better than Chevron.”
The AP report adds that the U.S. government is not investing money in the new company, but its backing is described as helping the company attract investment to ramp up production.
What’s at stake next
Chevron’s expansion is positioned as a direct bet on scaling Venezuela’s heavy-oil production, with the plan described as increasing production to approximately 600,000 barrels per day over the next five years.
“contracts of this kind with foreign governments must also be approved by the National Assembly”
Scripps News says Venezuela’s current oil output is only about 1.1 to 1.2 million barrels per day due to factors including political instability and international sanctions, while also noting that Venezuela’s proven reserves total more than 303 billion barrels of crude oil.
The AP report says the Pentagon’s role in the broader Venezuela arrangement comes through its Office of Strategic Capital, created under former President Joe Biden to invest in technology needed for national security.
It also reports that the Venezuelan Constitution states contracts of this kind with foreign governments must be approved by the National Assembly, which did not occur, and that analysts say the deal seems certain to face legal challenges and potentially questions of legitimacy.
Meanwhile, Scripps News ties the Chevron move to U.S. energy goals, noting that Trump said the agreement with Venezuela would “substantially lower” gasoline prices in the U.S., as the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline jumped overnight to $4.12, according to AAA.