Chevron, GE Vernova, ONGC, Eni and GeoPark are on track to sign final agreements with Venezuela that could be inked as early as this week, according to five sources close to the talks. The pacts would complete a six-month migration of oil contracts to an amended hydrocarbon law and set terms for new energy and electricity projects, separate from last week's Caracas-Washington deal covering 17 oilfields.
Five firms near the finish line
Five sources close to the preparations said U.S. companies Chevron and GE Vernova, India's ONGC, Italy's Eni and Colombia's GeoPark are on track to sign final agreements in Venezuela after months of negotiations to firm up energy projects in the OPEC country. Most of the pacts complete a six-month migration of oil contracts to an amended hydrocarbon law that gives foreign firms more flexibility to expand and operate oilfields, export barrels and cash sale proceeds. Others set terms for new energy and electricity projects.
Two of the sources said the list of companies lining up to sign has not been finalized, as executives rush to complete negotiations at the last minute. The agreements could be inked as early as this week.
Chevron pushes into the Orinoco Belt
One source said Chevron's agreements with Venezuela are expected to be significant in size. Two sources said the company is trying to add a block in the Orinoco Belt to its portfolio, which would let one of its joint projects with state-run PDVSA expand. Chevron also aims to negotiate an area in Monagas North that could become a key source of diluents for its extra-heavy oil output.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that Exxon Mobil and Chevron were among the companies committed to investing in Venezuela, though he did not elaborate. A separate source said GeoPark has progressed in negotiations for the Bare heavy oilfield, also in the Orinoco, which could give the company access to up to 1 billion barrels of reserves. Eni, which shares the Perla offshore gas project with Repsol and holds a partnership with PDVSA for the Corocoro oilfield, said it was working with its Venezuelan counterparties to support the revitalization of the country's energy sector. Chevron, GE Vernova, ONGC, GeoPark, Venezuela's oil ministry and PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
A separate, larger pact already signed
These agreements are separate from a massive Caracas-Washington pact announced last week, under which the U.S. would lock in a stake in 17 oilfields holding roughly 64 billion barrels of proved reserves — a fifth of Venezuela's total crude reserves. Authorities have said the 17 fields, in the Orinoco Belt and Lake Maracaibo, are expected to produce as much as 1.5 million barrels per day in the long term, more than double Venezuela's current output of 1.25 million bpd.
Asked when the deal would lead to higher production, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said there was already a "significant increase in oil production out of Venezuela." He added that oil prices are more stable in part because of what is coming out of Venezuela, and that the 65 billion-barrel reserve is a big part of what officials are already seeing.
Source: Investing.com
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