Chevron plans to invest over $7bn in Venezuela over the next five years as it targets more than a doubling of its oil production in the South American country to 600,000 barrels per day (bpd). Colombia's GeoPark and Italy's Eni will also enter the country, 

US oil major Chevron said on September 2 that it had been awarded two additional fields in Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt, home to the bulk of the country’s vast extra-heavy crude reserves. Chevron currently produces about 280,000 bpd in Venezuela.

Under the new agreements, the company’s Petroindependencia joint venture with state-owned PDVSA will incorporate two adjoining areas in the Carabobo region of the Orinoco Belt.

Chevron said the agreements also provide improved fiscal, commercial and legal terms, although it did not disclose those terms.

It currently participates in three Venezuelan joint ventures: Petroindependencia and Petropiar in the Orinoco Belt, and Petroboscán in Zulia state.

The announcement represents the first substantial, company-specific capital and production commitments emerging from Venezuela’s latest contractual overhaul.

Venezuela’s current oil output is around 1.25mn bpd, and Chevron’s current output is about 22% of that. Chevron’s planned 600,000 bpd output would be equivalent to nearly half today's national output—although Venezuela's overall production is expected to rise substantially over the same period.

Chevron’s expansion would deepen the company’s position in the country as Washington seeks to attract private investment to revive an oil industry hampered by years of underinvestment and deteriorating infrastructure.

The US company is currently the only US oil major producing in Venezuela.

“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,” Chevron chief executive Mike Wirth said.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright was visiting Venezuela when Chevron made the announcement. He put Venezuela’s national production target at 2mn bpd by the end of 2030, an official US goal, not an independently validated forecast.

For its part, GeoPark will enter the country through the Bare heavy-oil block in the Orinoco Belt.

GeoPark will acquire 95% of the company holding the Bare asset from Colombia’s Grupo Gilinski, paying with 42.1mn newly issued GeoPark shares valued at $12.22 each, it was announced on September 2 local time.

Gilinski is expected to emerge with 56.3% of GeoPark, effectively giving it control. GeoPark also plans a $100mn tender offer for existing shareholders at $12.22 a share.

The underlying oil asset is substantial but currently underdeveloped. Bare contains an estimated 15.7bn barrels of original oil in place, has around 1,100 wells and has historically produced more than 700mn barrels. Current gross output is only about 11,000 bpd, but GeoPark sees potential for 85,000-95,000 bpd, with net production eventually plateauing at 55,000-62,000 bpd.

The redevelopment operates under a new 25-year production participation contract with state-owned PDVSA.

Meanwhile Eni announced the same day that it has secured a 25-year production-sharing arrangement including the Junín 5 heavy-oil area. Eni plans $1.5bn of investment there and is targeting 400,000 bpd across its Venezuelan oil projects by 2030.

"We are trying to work at what I call Trump-speed. President (Donald) Trump didn't want a nudge or a slow drift in a positive direction. He wanted to see as fast as possible transformation in Venezuela," said US energy secretary Chris Wright, who was visiting the country when the announcements were made.

These follow a series of moves by the Trump administration to increase US involvement in Venezuela’s key oil sector. The three deals are separate from Trump's announcement. 

President Donald Trump announced on August 28 an agreement that the White House says gives the US government majority control over more than 65bn barrels of Venezuelan proven oil reserves, equivalent to roughly a fifth of the country's estimated reserves.

Washington has separately also partnered with private oil company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), which has received concessions from Venezuela’s interim government covering 17 oilfields. NABEP has granted the US Defence Department a 35% equity interest.

This follows the US capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in January and Washington’s subsequent move to exert control over the country’s oil exports.

The US has worked with interim president Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, as it seeks to restructure Venezuela’s ailing oil sector and bring in foreign capital.

Venezuela’s oil industry has suffered from many years of under-investment, corruption and crippling US sanctions.