U.S. Is Taking a Large Stake in Venezuela’s Oil Revival. The Goal Is 2 Million Barrels a Day.
Venezuela’s latest oil agreements with U.S. and European companies are seemingly more complex than a simple return of Western energy investment to the turbulent country, with multiple agreements being forged at the same time.
According to a CNBC report from Caracas, the emerging framework includes separate deals involving Chevron, private oil operators and, most unusually, a direct U.S. government investment in a Venezuelan-focused energy company.
The agreements come as Venezuela’s interim government attempts to rebuild an oil industry that once made it one of the most important energy suppliers in the Western Hemisphere. Venezuelan crude production was around 3.3 million barrels per day in 1997 before beginning a decades-long decline.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has attributed that collapse to a combination of “government mismanagement, international sanctions, and the country’s economic crisis.” CNBC, which traveled to Caracas with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, reported that one of the biggest takeaways is that there is no single “Venezuela oil deal,” but that several agreements are taking shape simultaneously.
Chevron, which has operated in Venezuela for more than a century, is pursuing its own expansion. According to the outlet, the U.S. oil major plans roughly $7 billion in investment across three projects and intends to more than double its Venezuelan production over the next five years.
A separate and potentially more consequential arrangement involves North American Blue Energy Partners, or NABEP, a private operator led by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt. The U.S. government is taking a stake in NABEP, with the investment effectively tied to future oil production.
Wright told CNBC that the U.S. government would not itself operate Venezuela’s oil reserves, leaving production to private companies. The central question is whether the combination of U.S. backing, private capital and Western technical expertise can translate into substantially higher output.
Wright expressed confidence that Venezuela could add a couple hundred thousand barrels per day relatively quickly. Combined with Chevron’s planned investments and projects involving companies including Italy’s Eni and U.S.-based Aspect Energy, the expectation is that Venezuelan production could eventually climb toward 2 million barrels per day.
That would represent a dramatic recovery, although still well below the country’s historical peak. Venezuela’s relationship with the U.S. oil market is already expanding. EIA data show U.S. imports of Venezuelan crude jumped from about 6.2 million barrels in January 2026 to nearly 18.9 million barrels in June, roughly tripling in five months.
The timing could also give the agreements broader significance for global energy markets. Oil prices have climbed above $100 amid geopolitical disruptions, while constrained refining capacity has intensified concerns about diesel and jet-fuel supplies.
Bringing additional Venezuelan barrels onto the market would not immediately solve those problems, but restoring a major source of heavy crude could become increasingly important if supply disruptions persist.
The new framework also represents an effort to redirect Venezuela’s oil industry toward Western investment after years in which Russia and China became increasingly influential. U.S. officials say the agreements are intended to ensure that part of the proceeds and tax revenue generated by higher production flows back into Venezuela.
