Chevron to invest $7B in Venezuela

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX, XETRA:CHV) said on Wednesday it has reached new agreements with Venezuela that grant the company additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt and updated terms for its joint ventures in the country, backing plans to more than double production over the next five years.

The agreements provide enhanced fiscal, commercial and legal terms for Chevron's Venezuelan joint ventures and assign the company additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, where it already holds an established position.

The updated terms support joint venture plans to invest more than $7 billion over the next five years and increase production to approximately 600,000 barrels a day, more than double 2026 output.

Chevron said total costs in the region are below $20 per barrel.

"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," said Mike Wirth, Chevron’s CEO.

"With improved terms and additional acreage, we are strengthening a portfolio that we believe can deliver attractive low-cost oil growth, support energy supply and create differentiated long-term value.”

Under the agreements, the Petroindependencia joint venture, in which Chevron holds a 49% interest, has been assigned rights to develop the adjacent Carabobo-1 and Carabobo-2-South-A areas in the Orinoco Belt, expanding the venture's operational footprint as it increases extra-heavy oil production.

The additional sites follow an April agreement in which Chevron raised its working interest in Petroindependencia to 49% and gained rights to develop the Ayacucho 8 area adja...