Oil giant Chevron is expected to announce it will expand operations in Venezuela, U.S. official says
President Donald Trump recently announced a deal to develop Venezuela's oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits.
WASHINGTON — Oil giant Chevron is planning to expand its operations in Venezuela, a U.S. official said Tuesday, just days after President Donald Trump announced an ambitious deal to develop the nation’s oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits.
The official, who briefed reporters on the expected announcement, said the company’s officials and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are expected to visit Venezuela on Wednesday where the new investment will be formally unveiled. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House for the call.
Chevron is the second-largest U.S. oil company and the only one with a major presence in Venezuela. Chevron did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The announcement comes after the White House confirmed on Monday it is partnering with North American Blue Energy Partners as part of President Donald Trump‘s push to tap into Venezuela’s oil industry.
The sweeping agreement has been met with skepticism from analysts who say it will take years to revive Venezuela’s production. They have questioned whether Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez has the legal authority to give the company 100-year rights over 17 oil fields with reserves of 65 billion barrels — and whether future Venezuelan or American administrations would overturn the agreement.
Deal being pitched as step toward stability, democracy for Venezuelans
The Trump administration wants elections to happen as quickly as is feasible, but is aiming to maintain stability as it helps Venezuela transition following decades of autocratic rule, the official said.
The official argued that maintaining stability during such transitions “almost invariably requires you to work with elements of the existing structure, even as you are creating a new one.”
The Pentagon’s role in the deal comes through its Office of Strategic Capital, which was created under former President Joe Biden to invest in technology needed for national security.
A second U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity described the Venezuela agreement as “a very standard deal” and said the office has made several similar ones since Trump returned to office.
Trump says other companies are readying for business
Trump has had his eyes on Venezuela’s oil since Maduro’s capture, and his aides call it a path away from reliance on oil from the Middle East. Trump has been pressing to get U.S. businesses to restore a presence in the country. President Hugo Chávez completed the nationalization of Venezuela’s oil industry in 2007, leading major players like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips to leave Caracas.
Talking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump suggested that other oil companies were readying for business in Venezuela. “We have Exxon going in, we have Chevron going in. We have our big oil companies going in,” he said. ExxonMobil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump in January said he was inclined to leave Exxon out of Venezuela after CEO Darren Woods called the country “uninvestable.”
Chevron has been the only major American oil company actively operating in Venezuela since the nationalization.
Trump was scheduled to meet with a group of large and small oil refiners on Tuesday to discuss ways to increase America’s capacity to refine oil into gasoline.
The White House has said that increasing the number of refineries and expanding the capacity at existing facilities would eventually reduce prices for consumers. The administration also sees the need for more refineries to process oil from Venezuela.
