Chevron confirmed that it will expand operations in Venezuela through a planned investment of more than $7 billion over the next five years. As the only U.S. oil company with a major presence in the country, the Houston-based corporation has been assigned additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, where it maintains active operations alongside state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA.
Chevron Commits $7 Billion to More Than Double Venezuela Production
The investment aims to more than double current production to approximately 600,000 barrels per day by 2031, compared with about 280,000 barrels per day currently. CEO Mike Wirth stated in a prepared release that Chevron’s history in Venezuela spans more than a century, and our expanded position reflects our confidence in the country’s deep resource potential.
Wirth also told CNBC that Venezuela became more attractive for investment after the interim government passed a new hydrocarbon law modifying taxes, royalties, and operating conditions.
Ceremony in Caracas and Broader U.S. Energy Push
The expansion coincides with a broader push by the Trump administration to tap into Venezuela’s oil reserves. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright attended a ceremony at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas where Chevron, Italian oil company Eni, and other energy firms signed agreements with the government.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Wirth and Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, Wright remarked, Today is a transformative day.
He added, President Trump’s mission in Venezuela is straightforward. The mission is to bring peace, freedom, opportunity and prosperity to the people of Venezuela.
The wider U.S. initiative follows the January military raid that captured former President Nicolás Maduro, after which the U.S. seized control of Venezuelan oil exports and partnered with Rodríguez, the former vice president under Maduro. Additionally, the U.S. announced a separate arrangement giving North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP)—a private oil company headquartered in Barbados—concessions to 17 oil fields holding an estimated 65 billion barrels of oil for 100 years, with NABEP granting the U.S. Defense Department a 35% equity stake.
Global Reserves and Industry Landscape
Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven reserves, totaling over 303 billion barrels of crude oil according to OPEC’s 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin, placing it ahead of Saudi Arabia’s 267 billion barrels. Despite these vast resources, decades of neglect, severe infrastructure degradation, and international sanctions mean Venezuela’s daily production sits just above 1 million barrels, compared to Saudi Arabia’s 10 million to 11 million barrels per day and U.S. production of nearly 14 million barrels per day.
Other major U.S. energy firms remain hesitant to return. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods previously called the country uninvestable during a White House meeting, and an Exxon spokesman confirmed that nothing has changed. Rystad analysts noted that restoring Venezuela’s oil production to 1990s-era levels of roughly 3 million barrels a day would require more than a decade and $183 billion.
Legal and Political Concerns
The agreements have drawn skepticism and criticism from policy experts. Ian Vásquez, vice president for international studies at the Cato Institute, pointed out that Venezuela’s constitution mandates that such arrangements be approved by the National Assembly, which has not occurred. The deal lacks legitimacy since it was agreed to with a dictatorship that has clung to power for decades through violence and by committing what was probably the largest electoral fraud in Latin American history in 2024,
Vásquez wrote.
Energy analysts have also questioned whether Rodríguez holds the legal authority to grant 100-year rights over billions of barrels of reserves, and whether future American or Venezuelan administrations might overturn the deals.