Venezuela Signs Deals with Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and GeoPark Amid Oil Production Boom

US energy majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil are among companies committed to invest in Venezuela's oil sector, according to US President Donald Trump. The investment is expected to be significant, with Chevron looking to add a block in the Orinoco Belt to its portfolio. This would allow one of its joint projects with state-run PDVSA to expand.

Chevron also aims to negotiate an area in Monagas North that could become a key source of diluents for its extra-heavy oil output. GeoPark has progressed in negotiations for the Bare heavy oilfield, which could give the company access to up to 1 billion barrels of reserves.

The agreements are separate from a massive Caracas-Washington pact announced last week for the US to lock in a stake in 17 oilfields with some 64 billion barrels of proved reserves. The fields, in the vast Orinoco Belt and Lake Maracaibo, are expected to produce as much as 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in the long term.