Chevron is preparing a major expansion of its Venezuelan oil business after receiving additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, with more than $7 billion in planned investment over five years and a goal of roughly doubling production from 2026 levels.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Chevron announced Wednesday that it will significantly expand its oil operations in Venezuela, committing more than $7 billion over the next five years as the company gains access to additional acreage in the country’s vast Orinoco Belt.
The investment is expected to approximately double Chevron’s Venezuelan production from 2026 levels, eventually bringing output to about 600,000 barrels of oil per day, according to the company.
Chevron is currently the only major U.S. oil producer maintaining a substantial presence in Venezuela, where it has operated for generations despite years of political upheaval, sanctions and deteriorating relations between Washington and Caracas.
The expansion follows a major shift in U.S. policy toward development of Venezuela’s enormous petroleum resources.
Just days before Chevron’s announcement, President Donald Trump disclosed an agreement involving development of the country’s oil reserves that would also give the Pentagon a financial interest in resulting profits, according to the Associated Press.
Chevron said the additional Orinoco Belt acreage, combined with improved operating terms, creates an opportunity to increase production while adding resources the company believes can remain competitive within its global portfolio.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said the agreement strengthens the company’s position in a country where it has operated for more than a century.
“Chevron’s history in Venezuela spans more than a century, and our expanded position reflects our confidence in the country’s deep resource potential and its ability to compete for investment within our portfolio for decades,” Wirth said.
The Orinoco Belt is central to Venezuela’s status as one of the world’s most resource-rich petroleum producers. The region contains enormous deposits of heavy crude and has long been considered critical to any substantial recovery or expansion of Venezuelan oil production.
Chevron’s planned investment would increase its capacity in a country holding the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world.
Venezuela possessed more than 303 billion barrels of proven crude reserves, according to OPEC’s 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin.
Despite that extraordinary resource base, Venezuela has for years produced far below its geological potential as its oil industry struggled with insufficient investment, deteriorating infrastructure, political instability, sanctions and the loss of technical expertise.
Chevron’s multibillion-dollar commitment represents an effort to reverse some of those limitations within the company’s own operations.
Under the expansion plan, the company intends to use the newly assigned acreage and revised terms to generate what it describes as low-cost oil growth.
Reaching approximately 600,000 barrels per day would represent a substantial increase from Chevron’s Venezuelan output in 2026 and further establish the company as the leading American commercial participant in the country’s petroleum sector.
The timing also places Chevron’s investment within a broader strategic effort by the Trump administration to develop Venezuelan energy resources while establishing a direct U.S. interest in their economic value.
Trump’s newly announced arrangement involving Pentagon participation in oil profits represents an unusual connection between Venezuelan petroleum development and U.S. defense interests.
Chevron’s announcement indicates that private-sector investment is beginning to follow the changing relationship.
The company’s long history in Venezuela gives it an established operational base from which to expand more rapidly than a new entrant attempting to build infrastructure and partnerships from the ground up.
Wirth made clear that Chevron views the opportunity as more than a short-term production increase, describing Venezuela as a resource base capable of competing for company investment for decades.
The planned $7 billion-plus commitment over five years would therefore serve both immediate production objectives and Chevron’s longer-term strategy for accessing one of the largest concentrations of petroleum reserves anywhere in the world.
If the company reaches its projected production level, the expansion would approximately double Venezuelan output attributable to Chevron compared with 2026 while bringing hundreds of thousands of additional barrels onto the market each day.
The development also marks a potentially significant turning point for Venezuela’s energy sector after years in which political conflict and international restrictions constrained investment despite the country’s unmatched proven reserves.
With additional Orinoco Belt acreage now assigned and billions of dollars committed, Chevron is positioning itself for a much larger role in Venezuelan oil production as Washington and Caracas enter a new phase of energy cooperation.
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