Chevron is on the verge of securing agreements that would significantly broaden its operations in Venezuela, adding two heavy-oil field assets to its portfolio alongside its three existing partnerships with state-controlled PDVSA. News of the pending deal lifted CVX shares by 1.05%.

Officials plan to unveil the arrangement on Wednesday in Venezuela’s capital, where executives from several American energy companies will formalize production agreements. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is scheduled to attend the proceedings.

The deal would transition Chevron’s existing partnerships into Venezuela’s updated energy regulatory framework, granting the American company enhanced operational authority. It also includes a previously negotiated asset swap allowing Chevron’s Petropiar heavy crude operation to expand into the adjacent Ayacucho 8 block. Both Petropiar and the Ayacucho blocks sit within the Orinoco Belt, the vast extra-heavy crude region that holds the bulk of Venezuela’s reserves and has long been the centerpiece of its oil production ambitions.

BREAKING: Chevron, $CVX, Halliburton, $HAL, and other major US oil companies are nearing deals to invest "billions of dollars" in Venezuela's oil fields, per WSJ. This comes amid reports that the US is negotiating a deal to take a large stake in Venezuelan oil fields. — The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) August 28, 2026

Negotiations also cover a second block within the Orinoco Belt, plus a prospective additional oil region that could join Chevron’s holdings, according to informed sources. Chevron has not issued a public statement on the matter.

Meanwhile, Halliburton, a leading American oilfield services provider, is in active talks to supply its technology and services to Venezuela’s petroleum industry. A return of U.S. oilfield services firms would be a key enabler for ramping output, since Venezuelan production has been hobbled for years by underinvestment, equipment shortages, and maintenance backlogs at PDVSA.

Why Chevron Is Expanding

Following Nicolas Maduro’s removal from power in January, the Trump administration has encouraged American energy companies to commit capital to Venezuela, aiming to boost oil production across the Western Hemisphere and secure additional heavy crude supplies for domestic refineries. U.S. Gulf Coast refineries are configured to process heavy crude, and supplies of comparable grades from Canada and Mexico have tightened, making Venezuelan barrels a strategically attractive feedstock.

Venezuela holds some of the world’s largest proven petroleum reserves, accounting for roughly 17% of the global total. Current production stands at around 1.1 million barrels per day, essentially flat compared with a year earlier — a fraction of the more than 3 million barrels per day the country produced in the late 1990s, underscoring the scale of the potential recovery if capital returns.

Chevron remains the only major American oil producer with active Venezuelan operations, functioning under exclusive U.S. government authorization. That on-the-ground experience gives it a head start over industry peers still weighing whether to enter the market. The company first received a limited U.S. license to operate in Venezuela in late 2022, an exemption from broad American sanctions on the country’s oil sector.

Rivals Stay on the Sidelines

ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have so far declined to participate. Both companies lost their Venezuelan assets to nationalization under Hugo Chavez in 2007 and are still pursuing billions of dollars in compensation nearly two decades later — a reminder of the legal and expropriation history that continues to weigh on corporate decisions about the country.

Many of the fields Venezuela is offering are undeveloped, lacking basic infrastructure and power supply. Bringing them into production would require billions of dollars in upfront capital spending, meaning any production gains would arrive gradually rather than immediately.

Hunt Oil became the first American company to sign an agreement for Venezuelan oil extraction earlier this month, ahead of the current wave of industry contracts.

The corporate negotiations are proceeding separately from advanced talks between the Trump administration and Venezuelan officials over direct American ownership stakes in 17 of the country’s highest-potential fields, which together hold approximately 90 billion barrels of proven reserves.

By the end of Q2 2026, Chevron was the most widely held energy stock among hedge funds tracked in the Insider Monkey database, with 101 institutional investors holding combined positions worth roughly $23.2 billion. Key markers ahead include the formal signing of the agreements, any expansion of U.S. licenses to other American companies, and whether production begins to climb from its current plateau.