Chevron to Double Venezuela Rig Count in $7 Billion Oil Push

Chevron announced plans to increase its drilling activity in Venezuela by doubling the rigs it operates as part of a five-year push to lift output to about 600,000 barrels per day. The company’s chief financial officer, Eimear Bonner, said the additional rigs will be deployed under contract terms signed with Venezuela last week that include access to international arbitration.

The firm’s three Venezuelan joint ventures intend to invest more than $7 billion through 2031 to support the expansion. Chevron currently produces roughly 290,000 barrels per day in Venezuela, and the company expects production costs across the expanded operations to stay below $20 per barrel. Management projects the plan will add about 310,000 barrels per day from Chevron assets over the five-year period.

As part of the deal, Chevron received extra acreage in the Orinoco Belt, including Carabobo areas assigned to the Petroindependencia venture, in which Chevron holds a 49% stake. The company also secured additional development rights near its Petropiar operations. Chevron has maintained a presence in Venezuela since 1923 and remained through the 2007 nationalizations that prompted ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips to exit; those firms are still owed billions under arbitration awards and have not returned.

The Chevron expansion coincides with a larger U.S.-Venezuela oil agreement announced last week. That arrangement granted North American Blue Energy Partners 100-year concessions across 17 fields with about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves and, according to the White House, gives the U.S. government governance rights and guaranteed access to some production. Chevron’s operations benefit from a shorter operational runway because its current barrels already reach U.S. refineries, the new acreage sits adjacent to assets it already operates, and boosting rig count expands drilling capacity without building a new operator from scratch.