Chevron Doubles Down on Venezuela with $7 Billion Investment
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has announced that Chevron plans to invest more than $7 billion in Venezuela over the next five years, with a goal of increasing its production to about 600,000 barrels per day.
This represents a significant expansion for Chevron, which currently produces around 1.1 million barrels per day and operates in Venezuela since 1923. The company received additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, including rights to develop the Carabobo 1 and Carabobo-2-South-A areas.
The investment is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to increase oil production in Venezuela, which has more than 303 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves. However, the country's production has fallen sharply from its peak of over 3 million barrels per day in the late 1990s due to decades of socialist mismanagement and nationalization.
Energy analysts have warned that restoring Venezuela's oil industry will take years and require tens of billions of dollars. Despite this, Wright described increased energy production as a potential catalyst for Venezuela's economic recovery, saying 'new energy deals could more than double Venezuela’s oil production in the next few years'.