Chevron Is Playing a Long Game in Venezuela’s Oil Fields
The American petro giant is helping prop up the embattled nation’s energy industry, positioning itself for post-Maduro prosperity.
A sculpture depicting an oil derrick in a hand stands outside PDVSA headquarters in Caracas.
Photographer: Roman Camacho/Getty ImagesDonald Trump may have slammed Venezuela with sanctions in an effort to change the regime of President Nicolás Maduro, but the country’s energy industry has an unlikely ally: Chevron Corp.
Despite the U.S. administration’s push to disrupt the financial resources available to Venezuela’s leadership, the second-biggest U.S. oil company is working to bolster one of the Maduro government’s chief economic pillars—its ability to produce crude oil. Chevron is helping tap four fields in the country while testing new injection technologies to maximize production in one, says a person familiar with the operations who asked not to be named because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter. Chevron is also helping pay for supplies, expenses, and even health care for workers at state-owned oil producer Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) to keep the crude flowing, says that person.