Chevron confirmed on Wednesday that it will expand its operations in Venezuela through a joint venture investing more than $7 billion over five years, a move that follows the Trump administration’s push to develop the country’s oil reserves under a Pentagon-backed arrangement.
The company said it has been assigned additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, where it already holds an established position. Under the plan, Chevron expects to more than double its output to roughly 600,000 barrels a day compared with 2026 levels, ranking it among the largest single foreign commitments to the Venezuelan oil sector in years.
Chevron is the second-largest U.S. oil company and the only American major with a substantial footprint in Venezuela, where it has operated since 1923. Its history there spans more than a century through joint ventures including Petroindependencia and Petropiar, which run extra-heavy oil projects in the Orinoco belt, and Petroboscan in the western state of Zulia.
“Chevron’s history in Venezuela spans more than a century, and our expanded position reflects our confidence in the country’s deep resource potential,” chief executive Mike Wirth said in a statement, adding that improved terms and additional acreage strengthen a portfolio the company believes can deliver low-cost oil growth for decades.
The announcement arrived a day after U.S. officials indicated that Chevron representatives and Energy Secretary Chris Wright would travel to Venezuela to formally present the investment. It also came days after President Donald Trump outlined a broader deal to develop the nation’s oil reserves and grant the Pentagon a share of the profits.
That wider framework has drawn scrutiny. A separate arrangement gives the U.S. Defense Department a stake in Venezuela’s state oil enterprise, part of a package Washington has valued at around $100 billion. Other American producers have also been named as potential entrants, with Trump saying Exxon would return to the country as part of the same effort.
The Orinoco belt holds some of the world’s heaviest and most abundant crude, but production has long been constrained by underinvestment, sanctions and the deterioration of state-run infrastructure. Chevron’s capital and technical expertise could help restart idled capacity, though extra-heavy oil requires costly upgrading before it reaches export markets.
For the wider industry, the deal reopens a country that Western majors had largely written off, and it sets a benchmark for how quickly Venezuelan output can recover. Chevron’s next step is to finalise the joint venture terms and begin drilling on its newly assigned acreage.