Venezuela Secures Billions in Foreign Investment with Chevron, ONGC Deals

Venezuela is on the verge of securing significant foreign investment in its energy sector as several major players, including Chevron and India's ONGC, near final agreements with Caracas. According to Reuters, these deals would allow companies to export their own crude and receive the proceeds directly, a departure from the state-controlled model that governed the industry for decades.

Chevron is expected to sign agreements of 'significant size', according to one source, including an additional block in the Orinoco Belt and an area in northern Monagas. The U.S. major is seeking to expand its joint venture with PDVSA and secure diluents needed for Venezuela's extra-heavy crude.

ONGC, on the other hand, is preparing to invest about $200 million in the San Cristobal field, where it targets a tenfold increase in production. The agreements are part of Venezuela's efforts to rebuild its energy industry, which still requires enormous amounts of foreign capital after years of underinvestment.

The deals would be separate from the larger U.S.-Venezuela pact announced last week covering stakes in 17 oilfields with about 64 billion barrels of proved reserves. Washington had previously negotiated direct ownership in selected Venezuelan fields under an earlier proposal involving roughly 90 billion barrels.