Energy Companies Sign Deals with Venezuela Amid Rising Gas Prices
Five major energy companies have signed agreements with Venezuela to rapidly increase oil and gas drilling in the country. Chevron, Eni, GE Vernova, Primavera, and Aspect Energy all signed deals with the Venezuelan government at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas on Wednesday afternoon.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright celebrated the agreements, saying President Trump wanted to see 'as fast as possible transformation' in Venezuela. The deals are wide-ranging, focusing on stabilizing the Venezuelan electricity grid and drilling new wells.
Chevron's deal assigns the company additional land in the Orinoco Belt, where it has been operating since 2001. As part of the agreement, Chevron plans to invest more than $7 billion over the next five years and aims to more than double oil production to roughly 600,000 barrels per day.
Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said the company could start on new wells as soon as Thursday and aims to achieve 1 million barrels of production per day. The deals are separate from a recent agreement between the Trump administration and North American Blue Energy Partners, which granted the company 100-year concessions for 17 oil fields.
The desire to bolster the Venezuelan oil industry has been accentuated by surging gasoline and oil prices caused by the months-long war in Iran. The national average price of gasoline was roughly $4.12 per gallon as of Wednesday, up from $3.18 one year ago.