# Chevron bets $7 billion on Venezuela's oil

> Trump's deal hands Chevron new acreage in the Orinoco Belt, but the pumps, pipelines, and politics are all broken.
- Title: Chevron bets $7 billion on Venezuela's oil · ABC7 Los Angeles
- Summary: Trump's deal hands Chevron new acreage in the Orinoco Belt, but the pumps, pipelines, and politics are all broken. Venezuela has more oil underground than…
- Keywords: oil, venezuela, chevron, energy policy, trump, news, local, bets, billion, Venezuela's, ABC7 Los Angeles
- Source: ABC7 Los Angeles — https://abc7.com/post/us-oil-giant-chevron-confirms-will-expand-operations-venezuela/19823353
- Published: 2026-09-12T14:07:05+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: oil, venezuela, chevron, energy policy, trump, news, local
## Chevron is going back in
Chevron confirmed it will expand in Venezuela after Trump announced a deal to develop the country's reserves, with the Pentagon taking a cut of the profits.
## Seven billion, five years
The company was assigned extra acreage in the Orinoco Belt and plans to spend over $7 billion by 2031, aiming to more than double output to about 600,000 barrels a day.

> Chevron's history in Venezuela spans more than a century.
## The biggest reserves on Earth
Venezuela sits on more than 303 billion barrels of proven crude, per OPEC's 2025 bulletin. Saudi Arabia is second at 267 billion.
## Reserves it cannot pump
Degraded infrastructure and sanctions hold daily output to just over 1 million barrels. Saudi Arabia pumps 10 to 11 million, the US almost 14 million.
## Signed in Caracas
Energy Secretary Chris Wright attended a ceremony where Chevron, Italy's Eni, and others signed with the government. The White House also named partner NABEP.

> The mission is to bring peace, freedom, opportunity and prosperity to the people of Venezuela.
## Who authorized this
NABEP would get 100-year rights over 17 oil fields holding 65 billion barrels. Venezuela's constitution requires National Assembly approval, and that vote never happened.
## A deal built on sand
Cato's Ian Vasquez argues the agreement was struck with a dictatorship under US military pressure, so any future democratic government will challenge it.

> Any future Venezuelan democracy will question the deal, thus undermining confidence in the current arrangement.
## Exxon remembers 2007
Venezuela nationalized oil in 1976 and again under Chavez in 2007, seizing assets from Exxon and ConocoPhillips when they refused state-controlled joint ventures. Chevron said yes.
## Still uninvestable
Trump says other majors are returning, but only Chevron has moved. Exxon's CEO called Venezuela uninvestable in January, and a spokesman says nothing has changed.
## Cheap gas is years away
New Orinoco facilities could take two to four years to come online, longer where pipelines do not exist. Meanwhile regular gas hit $4.12 a gallon, up 93 cents in a year.

> It could take 2 to 4 years to get new greenfield facilities online in the Orinoco region.
## Key takeaway

Venezuela has more oil underground than anyone, and almost none of the infrastructure or legal certainty needed to get it out.