Chevron announced Wednesday that it will invest $7 billion in Venezuela over the next five years, aiming to double its oil output in the country after securing additional acreage in the crude-rich Orinoco Belt.
The company, which is the only U.S. oil producer currently operating in Venezuela, said the spending plan is expected to lift production to roughly 600,000 barrels per day, about twice its current capacity, according to its statement.
The move follows President Trump’s Aug. 28 announcement of a deal with Venezuela to establish a private joint venture to operate oil fields holding 65 billion barrels of petroleum. Chevron said Wednesday that its production costs in Venezuela are about $20 per barrel.
“With improved terms and additional acreage, we are strengthening a portfolio that we believe can deliver attractive low-cost oil growth, support energy supply and create differentiated long-term value,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said in the statement.
Chevron said it has received development rights for the neighboring Carabobo 1 and Carabobo-2-South-A areas within the Orinoco Belt.
Chevron executives and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright are expected to travel to Venezuela on Wednesday for the formal unveiling of the new investment, a U.S. official said.
Chevron, the second-largest oil company in the United States, has had a presence in Venezuela since 1923. Its Petroindependencia and Petropiar S.A. joint ventures manage extra-heavy oil projects in the Orinoco Oil Belt, while Petroboscan S.A. operates in Zulia State in western Venezuela.
Venezuela’s vast oil reserves
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, with more than 303 billion barrels of crude, according to OPEC’s 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin. Saudi Arabia ranks a distant second with 267 billion barrels.
Mr. Trump said the Venezuela deal will help lower U.S. gasoline prices, while also refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which has dropped to historically low levels.
However, experts say it could take years for either goal to be reached because Venezuela’s oil industry suffers from years of neglect and needs billions in fresh investment.
“Meaningful new barrels are years away: Much of Venezuelan oil is extra-heavy crude sitting behind decayed infrastructure, so significant output growth will require substantial investment and time,” Dan Alamariu, chief geopolitical strategist at investment advisory firm Alpine Macro, said in a research note.
The White House’s joint venture in Venezuela involves a private company called North American Blue Energy Partners, or NABEP, the White House said Monday. Under the agreement, the Venezuelan government granted the company 100-year concessions to drill in 17 oil fields that contain about 65 billion barrels, roughly one-fifth of Venezuela’s total proven oil reserves.
NABEP, run by Venezuelan executive Alejandro Betancourt, describes itself as Venezuela’s second-largest private oil producer, pumping more than 200,000 barrels of oil per day.
Alain Sherter
contributed to this report.
