Chevron announced plans on Wednesday to double its crude production in Venezuela, as it competes with a giant new oil venture the Trump administration formed with a local competitor.
The company said it had reached agreements in Venezuela to expand its footprint and within five years double production to 600,000 barrels per day, roughly the equivalent of half of all the oil currently exported from Venezuela. Chevron says it is investing $7 billion in the effort.
The move follows the Trump administration’s announcement that it had brokered an unusual partnership with a Venezuelan oil company that gives the U.S. government control of more than one fifth of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. That deal, through which the Pentagon will acquire a stake in Chevron’s biggest private competitor in Venezuela, North American Blue Energy Partners, is expected to grow Venezuela’s output by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day over the course of several years.
Venezuela currently exports 1.2 million barrels per day. It is currently a relatively minor player in a global oil market in which roughly 105 million barrels are produced daily. The plans to expand production there are unlikely to have an impact on gas prices for U.S. drivers for years.
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