SEPTEMBER 2, 2026
Chevron Announces $7 Billion Expansion in Venezuela Following U.S.-Venezuela Oil Deal with Pentagon Profit Stake
Chevron confirmed Wednesday it will expand operations in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt, planning to invest more than $7 billion over five years and targeting production of approximately 600,000 barrels per day. The announcement came days after the Trump administration unveiled a deal to develop 17 Venezuelan oil fields — with an estimated 65 billion barrels of reserves — and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits. Chevron, the only major U.S. oil company currently operating in Venezuela, has had a presence there since 1923.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth stated Wednesday that the company's "expanded position reflects our confidence in the country's deep resource potential and its ability to compete for investment within our portfolio for decades." The expansion assigns Chevron additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, where it already operates through joint ventures Petroindependencia, Petropiar S.A., and Petroboscan S.A.
The broader deal, confirmed by the White House on Monday, involves a partnership with North American Blue Energy Partners, a private oil company headquartered in Barbados. Energy Secretary Chris Wright described the arrangement as "increasing the confidence for private businesses to come do deals in Venezuela, directly with the government of Venezuela," speaking on CNBC Wednesday. President Trump has repeatedly encouraged U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela and said in January that "we have Exxon going in, we have Chevron going in."
However, ExxonMobil's position has not changed. CEO Darren Woods described Venezuela as "uninvestable" at a White House meeting in January, and an Exxon spokesman told the AP this week that "nothing has changed." ConocoPhillips similarly exited Venezuela in 2007 after then-President Hugo Chávez renegotiated contracts and seized the assets of companies that refused to join state-controlled joint ventures. Chevron was the only major that stayed.