Chevron, India’s ONGC, GE Vernova, Eni and GeoPark are preparing to sign final energy agreements in Venezuela, Reuters reported Monday, citing five sources familiar with the preparations. The deals would bring new foreign investment into the country’s oilfields and power infrastructure at a time when Caracas is trying to draw capital back into a sector that has spent years underinvestment and operating constraints.

Over the past six months, Venezuela has rewritten existing oil contracts under its amended hydrocarbons law, giving foreign companies greater operational flexibility in fields previously dominated by state oil company PDVSA.

Under the new terms, companies can export their own crude and receive the proceeds directly, marking a major departure from the state-controlled model that governed the industry for decades. Several of those contracts are now ready for signature, alongside separate agreements covering new oil and power projects.

Chevron’s agreements are expected to be “of significant size,” according to one Reuters source. The U.S. major is seeking an additional block in the Orinoco Belt that would allow one of its joint ventures with PDVSA to expand, as well as an area in northern Monagas that could supply diluents needed for Venezuela’s extra-heavy crude.

ONGC is preparing to invest about $200 million in the San Cristobal field, where the Indian state producer is targeting a tenfold increase in production. Venezuela has also recently signed agreements with SLB and Hunt Oil as Caracas attempts to rebuild an industry that still requires enormous amounts of foreign capital after years of underinvestment.

The agreements are separate from the much larger U.S.-Venezuela pact announced last week covering stakes in 17 oilfields with about 64 billion barrels of proved reserves, according to Reuters. Washington had previously been negotiating direct ownership in selected Venezuelan fields under an earlier proposal involving roughly 90 billion barrels.

Chevron maintained operations in Venezuela through the Maduro years, but ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have not yet returned to operating oilfields as negotiations over fiscal terms and legal protections continue. The sequence of recent signings shows how Venezuela is reopening in stages, with smaller operators moving first while larger firms continue to work through the terms needed to return. Smaller operators have moved more quickly, with SLB and Hunt among the companies signing agreements in recent months.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com