(WO) — Chevron plans to invest more than $7 billion in Venezuela over the next five years and more than double production to approximately 600,000 bpd under new agreements that expand the company’s position in the country’s Orinoco Belt.
Chevron CEO and Chairman Mike Wirth
The agreements establish updated fiscal, commercial and legal terms for Chevron’s Venezuelan joint ventures and assign additional acreage to Petroindependencia S.A., in which a Chevron subsidiary holds a 49% interest.
Petroindependencia has received rights to develop the adjacent Carabobo 1 and Carabobo-2-South-A areas in the Orinoco Belt. The greenfield acreage expands the joint venture’s existing footprint as it works to increase extra-heavy oil production.
Chevron said its planned investment and development program would more than double Venezuelan production to approximately 600,000 bpd compared with 2026 levels. The company estimates total production costs of less than $20/bbl.
“With improved terms and additional acreage, we are strengthening a portfolio that we believe can deliver attractive low-cost oil growth,” Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth said.
The latest expansion follows an April agreement that increased Chevron’s working interest in Petroindependencia to 49% and provided rights to develop the Ayacucho 8 area adjacent to the Petropiar S.A. joint venture. Chevron said production across its three Venezuelan joint ventures has increased 15% year to date.
Chevron operates in Venezuela through Petroindependencia and Petropiar in the Orinoco Belt and Petroboscan in western Venezuela’s Zulia state.
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