US’s Chevron, Italy’s Eni to expand oil projects in Venezuela

What Happened

At a ceremony in Caracas on Wednesday, Chevron and Italy's Eni signed multibillion-dollar deals to expand Venezuela's oil output, overseen by interim President Delcy Rodriguez and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The contracts are separate from the recent Caracas-Washington agreement granting a US-led company 100-year concessions over 17 Venezuelan oilfields, about a fifth of the country's total reserves. Chevron valued its deal to develop two additional Orinoco Belt oilfields at $7bn and said project output would more than double in five years; Eni said it gained exclusive rights to explore the Junin 5 oilfield; GE Vernova signed to help repair Venezuela's electricity grid. Wright projected total Venezuelan oil output would reach 2 million barrels per day by the end of the decade, up from 1.25 million bpd today, still below the late-1990s peak of more than 3 million bpd. Rodriguez estimated Venezuela would make $209bn in profit from the deals over 25 years. Fraud-accused businessman Alejandro Betancourt, linked to a PDVSA corruption scandal and head of NABEP — in which the US government is taking a 35 percent stake under the larger deal — was absent from the ceremony; Wright defended NABEP's track record.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The agreements mark a major about-face for Venezuela's Chavismo movement, which nationalised oil fields two decades ago under Hugo Chavez. They give US companies and a US-linked firm expanded access to the world's largest proven oil reserves, raising sovereignty concerns in both countries. Critics accuse the Trump administration of holding Venezuela for ransom after the reported abduction of former President Nicolas Maduro, and the deals entrench former Maduro loyalists like Rodriguez without a clear electoral timeline, amplifying fears of a new form of external control over Venezuela's strategic energy assets.

Watch For

Monitor whether Rodriguez schedules concrete electoral dates or continues to defer polls, and whether Republican lawmakers or US courts challenge the 100-year concessions and the US government's 35 percent stake in NABEP. Watch for implementation milestones in Chevron's Orinoco Belt expansion and Eni's Junin 5 exploration, as well as any investigations or sanctions linked to Alejandro Betancourt, the PDVSA corruption scandal, and NABEP. Also track Venezuela's monthly oil output figures against Wright's projection of 2 million bpd by the end of the decade.