US energy giant Chevron is set to invest more than $7 billion in Venezuela over the next five years as it expands its operations in the oil-rich South American country.
The investment, which will run through 2031, is expected to more than double Chevron’s current production in Venezuela to approximately 600,000 barrels per day.
The company’s expansion follows new agreements reached with the Venezuelan government, giving Chevron improved fiscal, commercial and legal terms while providing access to additional oil-producing acreage in the Orinoco Belt.
Chevron currently produces about 290,000 barrels of crude oil per day in Venezuela, with the output exported to the United States.
The company said its three Venezuelan joint ventures have already increased production by about 15 per cent this year. Production costs across the projects are expected to remain below $20 per barrel.
As part of the expansion, Chevron will gain access to the Carabobo-1 and Carabobo-2-South-A areas in the Orinoco Belt through Petroindependencia, a joint venture in which the US company holds a 49 per cent stake.
Chevron also secured development rights for the Ayacucho 8 area, located near its Petropiar operation.
Venezuela currently produces between 1.1 million and 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day, a significant decline from the more than three million barrels per day the country produced in the late 1990s.
Chevron’s planned investment comes amid renewed US interest in Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and efforts to rebuild its petroleum industry.
The company’s expansion is separate from a broader agreement involving Washington and 17 Venezuelan oil fields with an estimated 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.
US President Donald Trump has also pushed for about $100 billion in investment to revive Venezuela’s oil sector.
Other major US oil producers, including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, have yet to resume operations in Venezuela after their assets were nationalised under the government of former President Hugo Chávez in 2007.
