İSTANBUL
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright will travel to Venezuela in the coming days, where Chevron is expected to announce an expansion of operations in the country, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday.
“We have had a number of small- to mid-sized deals announced over the last few days, and we think more are aligned and on the way,” Rubio said in a call with reporters.
The expansion would increase Chevron’s productive capacity in Venezuela as the Trump administration seeks to attract more US private-sector investment to the country’s oil industry.
The announcement comes after the Trump administration unveiled a major oil agreement with North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), a privately held Venezuelan oil producer, covering 17 oil fields with 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.
Rubio said Venezuela has roughly twice that amount in proven reserves outside the fields covered by the agreement, adding that the country has significant additional oil resources that could attract additional investment.
He contrasted the new arrangements with Venezuela’s previous oil deals under former President Nicolas Maduro, saying Cuba received between $40 billion and $64 billion worth of Venezuelan oil for free or at heavily subsidized prices, while China received discounts of up to $21 per barrel compared with Brent prices.
Russia, meanwhile, received Venezuelan oil as repayment for debt owed by Caracas, according to Rubio.
Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA also had more than $21 billion in uncollected receivables, which Rubio attributed to oil being given away under previous arrangements.
The new agreements are intended to ensure that oil revenues benefit Venezuela rather than foreign governments or individuals connected to the previous government.
The Trump administration has said NABEP plans to invest up to $100 billion in new oil infrastructure in Venezuela, while the agreement gives the US a 35% equity stake in the company’s corporate parent.
Washington is also seeking to bring Venezuela’s oil production back up while reducing the influence of countries such as China and Russia in the sector.
The administration also seeks to foster a stable and democratic Venezuela, with Rubio linking economic recovery to broader institutional and political changes.
The developments come as Washington seeks to deepen its involvement in Venezuela’s energy sector following years of declining production and underinvestment.
