Chevron commits over $7B to expand Venezuela operations after Trump deal opens access to massive oil reserves

Chevron is pouring over $7 billion into Venezuela over the next five years, betting big on a country that most Western oil companies abandoned nearly two decades ago. The investment, announced alongside a broader Trump administration deal granting US entities access to roughly 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves, could reshape the global crude supply picture. The plan calls for Chevron to double its production capacity in the country to approximately 600,000 barrels per day. That’s up from the roughly 260,000 bpd its joint ventures with state-owned PDVSA currently pump out, which already accounts for about a quarter of Venezuela’s total output. What the deal actually looks like Chevron’s expansion centers on new acreage in the Orinoco Belt, one of the largest petroleum deposits on the planet. The company is picking up stakes in Carabobo-1, Carabobo-2-South-A, and Ayacucho 8 for its Petropiar joint venture, paired with revised terms on its existing partnerships with PDVSA. Production costs are targeted to stay under $20 per barrel. The broader framework was facilitated by the Trump administration, which brokered a deal giving US interests control over about 20% of Venezuel...