Investors are scrambling to identify potential winners from the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and President Donald Trump’s plan to “run” the nation and deliver an oil boom. Berkshire Hathaway is one contender thanks to its large bet on Chevron, the only US oil major still operating in Venezuela.
Berkshire — now led by Greg Abel following Warren Buffett’s recent retirement as CEO — is Chevron’s largest corporate shareholder with a 6% stake worth about $19 billion, assuming Berkshire hasn’t altered the wager since its latest portfolio update.
The conglomerate counted the oil major as its fifth-largest stock position at the end of September 2025, representing about 7% of the total $267 billion value of its US stock portfolio.
Berkshire poised to profit
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, but decades of underinvestment in its oil infrastructure mean it only produces about 1% of global oil output.
Chevron has secured short-term exemptions to US sanctions on Venezuela, allowing it to produce and export limited amounts of the country’s oil.
Rivals, including Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, left Venezuela years ago following the nationalization of the country’s oil industry and government seizures of foreign-owned assets.
Trump said over the weekend that he envisions large US oil companies coming to Venezuela, fixing and modernizing its pipelines and refineries, and supercharging the country’s oil production.
Excited investors piled into oil stocks on Monday. Chevron shares surged as much as 6.3% on the day to a nine-month high of about $166, briefly valuing Berkshire’s stake at over $20 billion. They retreated on Tuesday but are still up nearly 3% so far in 2026.
Chevron already has stakes in five production projects in Venezuela, thanks to partnerships with affiliates of the country’s state oil company.
On an earnings call in August, CEO Mike Wirth highlighted Chevron’s deep foothold in the country. He said it has been operating in Venezuela for more than a century, and has “played an important role in regional energy security, as well as maintaining American economic interests.”
Chevron’s presence in Venezuela means it “stands to benefit from any reopening,” Maurizio Carulli, a global energy analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said in a Tuesday note.
The oil major has the personnel, licenses, and oil fields “ready to ramp up immediately,” Charles-Henry Monchau, CIO of Syz Group, also said in a note on Tuesday.
Not an overnight winner
Industry analysts have warned it will take years and huge sums to revitalize Venezuela’s oil sector, and US companies won’t want to invest heavily until they’re confident they won’t have assets seized or contracts changed down the line.
That suggests Venezuela won’t be an overnight game changer for Chevron or Berkshire.
Berkshire has further exposure to the oil industry via Occidental Petroleum, its next-largest stock holding after Chevron. It owns more than a quarter of the energy explorer and producer — a stake worth $11 billion today.
A Chevron spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement: “Chevron remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets. We continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.”
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