(Bloomberg) – Chevron Corp. is finalizing a deal that will significantly expand its operations in Venezuela by adding two giant oil fields in the Orinoco Belt, part of a push by U.S. President Donald Trump to ramp up production in the South American country.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth
The Texas oil company has negotiated operating rights to the fields in the Carabobo region that hold billions of barrels of heavy oil reserves, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to be named because the deal hasn’t been announced. They are near a vast field already operated by the company’s PetroIndependencia joint-venture with state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA.
Chevron’s deal is expected to be the largest of several agreements announced in the coming days as Trump encourages more U.S. investment in Venezuela’s oil industry. The company declined to comment.
Chevron, the only U.S. oil major operating in Venezuela, has been in talks with the nation’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez and her government about new fiscal terms that could pave the way for fresh investment in the country in the wake of former leader Nicolás Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces.
The deal is separate from negotiations for the U.S. government to take a direct stake in oil fields through a partnership between the Department of Defense and Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt.
