Chevron dobla su presencia en Venezuela con una inversión de 7.000 millones de dólares

Chevron, the American oil giant, plans to double its production in Venezuela over the next five years by investing $7 billion, according to the company's announcement on Tuesday. The firm has been granted the rights to two additional oil fields in the Orinoco Belt, a region that houses the majority of Venezuela's crude reserves, which are among the largest in the world. Currently, Chevron produces around 280,000 barrels daily in the country, with projections to reach 600,000 barrels by 2031, it stated.

This announcement comes after the United States announced a pact with NABEP, a company owned by Venezuelan entrepreneur Alejandro Betancourt, on Friday, which will allow Washington to control 21% of Venezuela's crude reserves. Chevron's CEO Mike Wirth said that the new organic hydrocarbon law passed in Venezuela has made investment in the sector more attractive, following a series of changes in the tax and royalty system.

"We have moved from being a less competitive option to a very attractive one compared to the rest of the world. That's why we are willing to invest significant capital and grow," he said.

Other companies have been more hesitant about returning to Venezuela following the U.S. military operation that captured President Nicolás Maduro and transferred him to New York for trial on drug trafficking charges. During a meeting at the White House last January, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods described the South American country as "impossible to invest in."

In part, the U.S. government's plan to develop through NABEP aims to pave the way for other major American companies to enter the country. This plan was discussed with representatives of major energy firms during a recent White House meeting.

The U.S. pact, announced by President Donald Trump on Friday via social media, states that the Pentagon, through its Office of Strategic Assets, will hold a 35% stake in the company. The interim government of Venezuela granted Betancourt's company rights to exploit 17 oil fields for a century, containing approximately 65 billion barrels, which represent 21% of the country's total reserves estimated at around 303 billion barrels.

According to the Secretary of Energy, the U.S. government's involvement "increases the security and confidence in the rule of law and the inviolability of contracts in Venezuela." "One thing is that a government expropriates assets of private corporations," Wright said in CNBC interviews. "Another very different thing is that a government expropriates assets that belong to the United States."

However, exploiting that oil will take years. Despite being the economic engine of the country, the Venezuelan hydrocarbon sector has suffered years of lack of investment and deteriorated infrastructure, which reduced production to a mere million barrels daily. In January, Rystad analysts calculated that it will take more than a decade and $183 billion to bring Venezuela's production back to the levels reached in the 1990s.

In Caracas, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright assured that, as of now, production has already reached 1.2 million barrels daily and the administration hopes to surpass the two-million-barrel threshold by 2030.