Venezuela Signs Deal with International Firms to Boost Oil Output

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright oversaw a signing ceremony in Caracas, where several international energy firms committed to project expansions in Venezuela's oil industry.

The deals, announced on September 2, are part of the migration of dozens of energy contracts to new terms under an oil reform approved in January. The agreements aim to boost oil output in the country, which currently produces around 1.25 million barrels per day, far short of its 3 million bpd peak in the late 1990s.

Chevron plans to invest more than $7 billion to double its output in the country to about 600,000 bpd over the next five years. Eni, which shares an offshore gas project with Repsol and a shallow water oil project with PDVSA, will expand to the large Junin 5 heavy oil area in the Orinoco Belt, where it plans to invest $1.5 billion.

The U.S. is spearheading a $100 billion investment plan that officials say will double Venezuela's output in the coming years. According to Wright, 'We are trying to work at what I call Trump-speed.'