Top executives from Chevron, GE Vernova, and Eni have joined US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez to unveil a series of energy agreements aimed at boosting crude output in the South American nation. The deals were announced at a signing ceremony in Caracas on Wednesday, with Wright describing them as representing "hundreds of billions of dollars" in investment and marking a "transformation in Venezuela." Rodriguez said the historic moves would soon spur economic growth while thanking former President Trump and his administration for brokering what she called a "win-win" arrangement.

These agreements constitute the largest capital commitment by energy companies to Venezuela since US special forces captured former leader Nicolas Maduro in January. Just nine months after Maduro's ouster, the Trump administration has made significant headway in its goal to dramatically increase crude production across the Americas. Venezuela sits atop the world's largest fossil fuel reserves, though years of mismanagement, corruption, and sanctions have crippled its energy sector.

Late last week, Trump unveiled a plan to take a majority stake in Venezuela's vast oil wealth through an unprecedented arrangement, a move officials said would create the world's second-largest private oil company. However, the plan has drawn sharp criticism from those who argue it would reduce Venezuela to a modern-day resource colony similar to the so-called "banana republics" of a century ago, potentially exposing oil firms operating there to long-term risks.

Under the arrangement, the US government reached a deal with Venezuelan entrepreneur Alejandro Betancourt to acquire a 35% stake in North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), a private firm holding 100-year concessions on 17 oil fields in Venezuela. Betancourt is a contentious figure locally, yet the Trump administration defended its decision to partner with the investor. The move comes just months after Trump floated his "Donro Doctrine," a 21st-century take on the Monroe Doctrine aimed at warning European powers against meddling in Western Hemisphere affairs. These developments have prompted analysts and academics to revisit the early neocolonial era when the US exerted outsized influence over Latin America and its natural resources.

Wright told the ceremony: "We have a strong interest in expanding energy production in the Americas. This is our turf." Chevron plans to invest $7 billion over the next five years through its joint ventures to more than double Venezuela's crude output, representing the largest single commitment yet in the Washington-led push to expand Venezuelan oil production. In a statement Wednesday, Chevron said it had secured rights to develop two giant fields in the Carabobo region of the Orinoco belt — Carabobo 1 and Carabobo-2-South-A — adjacent to its 49%-owned Petroindependencia joint venture.

Chief Executive Mike Wirth said in an interview: "We're building a very strong position in one of the best geological areas in Venezuela. There are billions of barrels of oil here." Wirth declined to comment on the US investment in NABEP but said he appreciated the Trump administration's commitment to pursuing "commercial solutions" that benefit both nations. "The US government recognizes that Venezuela's energy resources can serve as an engine for American energy security and for Venezuela's economic recovery." He noted Chevron had built "significant protections" into the deal to safeguard its investment, though he would not disclose contract terms. The company also expects to rebook some Venezuelan reserves it had written off years ago, he added.

Italy's Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi announced at the Caracas ceremony that Eni would begin drilling operations Thursday at the Junin 5 block. Descalzi said the block holds more than 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas with "enormous potential." Eni said in a statement its 25-year contract makes it the exclusive operator of Junin 5, with a development plan slated for October. According to details released at the ceremony, GE Vernova has committed to a strategic alliance with Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA to restore and strengthen power and energy infrastructure. The state electricity utility Corpoelec also signed an agreement with GE Vernova, which plans to add 1 gigawatt of generating capacity within 24 months and 5 gigawatts over four years, per the US Energy Department. One gigawatt represents the output of a conventional nuclear reactor.

Wright told reporters in Caracas that efforts are also underway to restructure Venezuela's debt load. "Venezuela carries heavy historical debts. Developing these fields will benefit the Venezuelan people, the American people, and global energy markets," Wright said. In a separate interview in Caracas, Wirth said additional Venezuelan supply would impact markets "gradually" and wouldn't quickly resolve shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. "These things run on different timelines, and investing in Venezuela takes years," he said.

Until now, smaller private firms have dominated US-Venezuela oil talks, but progress has been slow and they lack the financial muscle of Chevron to procure large-scale drilling and production equipment needed to ramp up output. Chevron expects to pump about 600,000 barrels per day in Venezuela by 2031, more than double current levels. The company said in its release that Venezuela's vast oil potential will last "for decades" with total costs expected to stay below $20 per barrel — versus Brent crude trading around $95 Wednesday, implying wide margins. Chevron typically exports its Venezuelan crude to refineries along the US Gulf Coast, where it is processed into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.

The additional 300,000 barrels per day from Chevron over five years would lift Venezuela's total output by nearly 30% to about 1.1 million barrels daily. Even so, without further investment, Venezuela would remain far below the nearly 3.5 million barrels per day it produced in the late 1990s before late President Hugo Chavez nationalized the oil industry. Rivals ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips exited Venezuela after their assets were seized in the mid-2000s, but Chevron chose to stay and negotiated arrangements to continue extracting crude. That unusual arrangement has drawn criticism both in the US — where detractors accuse the firm of funneling money to a corrupt regime — and within Venezuela, where some see it as a lasting symbol of American imperialism.

Over the past decade, Chevron's operations have been heavily constrained by on-again, off-again US sanctions, limiting its work largely to maintaining equipment and pursuing debts owed by its partner, PDVSA. Chevron maintains its presence in Venezuela has helped stabilize the economy, providing dollars during periods of hyperinflation and economic chaos, while also supplying crude to global markets. The company was also well-positioned following the Trump administration's toppling of Maduro's government earlier this year. Wirth said the deal was made possible by the strong performance of Chevron's existing operations in the country. "It's thanks to the dedication and commitment of these excellent employees who have overcome years of uncertainty and anxiety," he said.