US’s Chevron, Italy’s Eni to expand oil projects in Venezuela

US and Venezuela sign major oil deals as Washington expands influence in Caracas

Chevron and several other global energy companies have signed multibillion-dollar deals to boost Venezuela’s oil output at a ceremony in Caracas, overseen by interim President Delcy Rodriguez and United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

The deals on Wednesday are separate from a recently unveiled Caracas-Washington agreement that gives the US access to 17 Venezuelan oilfields, representing about a fifth of the country’s total reserves.

Most of the new contracts relate to project expansions that have been under negotiation with Venezuela’s Oil Ministry and ⁠state oil company PDVSA since a sweeping oil reform approved in January following the US’s abduction of former President Nicolas Maduro.

Wright, who had travelled to Caracas to oversee the signing ceremony, said the deals signed by Venezuela with the US’s Chevron and GE Vernova, as well as Italy’s Eni, were “critical in starting this ball rolling of peace, opportunity, and prosperity” in the country.

“We are trying to work at what I call Trump-speed. [US] President [Donald] Trump didn’t want a nudge or a slow drift in a positive direction,” Wright said. “He wanted to see as fast as possible transformation in Venezuela.”

The new contracts will see Chevron and Eni ramp up their operations in Venezuela while gaining greater stakes in the oil fields.

Chevron, the US’s second-largest oil company and the top private oil producer in Venezuela, has valued its deal to develop two additional oil fields in the Orinoco Belt at $7bn, and the project’s output will more than double in five years.