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Chevron Is Expanding in Venezuela Just Days After Trump Announced a Deal for 65 Billion Barrels of Its Oil
The oil major is moving to grow its operations in Venezuela following a presidential announcement whose actual commercial terms have yet to be spelled out.
FinancialMarkets.com
Chevron is expanding its operations in Venezuela following President Trump's August 28 announcement of a deal he said secures U.S. control over an estimated 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves. The move follows a broader recalibration of the U.S.-Venezuela relationship since the capture of Nicolas Maduro, whose government had previously restricted foreign oil majors' access to the country's reserves.
What remains unclear is the deal's actual structure. Whether "control" refers to expanded operating licenses, new equity stakes, revised production-sharing terms, or some other arrangement has not been detailed publicly, and no company, including Chevron, has disclosed specific commercial terms governing access to the reserves in question.
Sixty-five billion barrels would rank among the largest disclosed oil-reserve arrangements in recent memory if the figure holds up once terms are public. Until then, investors assessing what the deal means for Chevron's production growth, capital spending plans, or the broader scope of U.S. oil-major activity in Venezuela have a headline number to work with and comparatively little else. Chevron's own disclosures in coming weeks, likely through regulatory filings or investor communications, are the next point at which the deal's substance should become clearer.