HOUSTON, TEXAS (Pietro D. Pitts, Energy Analytics Institute, 2.Mar.2025) — 4 Venezuelan joint ventures (JVs) of US-based Chevron Corporation were producing an average 242,000 barrels per day (b/d) in late-Feb. 2025, according to state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) documents seen by Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). Such production represents 27% of Venezuela’s average oil production of 892,000 b/d in Jan. 2025, according to secondary sources data published by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR).
Importantly, Venezuela’s oil production averaged 874,000 b/d in 2024 and 763,000 b/d in 2023, according to the MOMR, again using data from secondary sources.
This compares to OPEC data from direct communication with officials from the OPEC member country, which points to average oil production of 1,031,000 b/d in Jan. 2025. Using the higher production data, Chevron’s production represents 23% of Venezuela’s average production in Jan. 2025.
And, using data from direct communications, Venezuela’s oil production averaged 921,000 b/d in 2024 and 783,000 b/d in 2023, according to the MOMR.
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Almost a quarter of a century of political, economic and financial uncertainties coupled with corruption amid mismanagement of oil sector rents has led to the downfall of Venezuela’s oil-dominated economy, once among the top economies in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region.
US sanctions imposed on Venezuela’s oil sector in 2019 by then US president Donald Trump during his first administration, have further complicated Venezuela’s ability to maintain a functioning oil sector. The sanctions aimed to topple the government of Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro Moros and set the stage for true “free and fair” elections and an eventual regime change to one more in line with Washington.
Subsequent to the sanctions, the US Office of Assets Control (OFAC) granted US oil major Chevron General License No. 41 (GL41) which authorizes the production and lifting of petroleum and petroleum products produced by the company’s joint ventures in the South American country. Chevron’s continued operations in Venezuela are impactful in terms of total oil production but also owing to the revenues and benefits to Venezuela workers and families its operations generate across the country.
Chevron Venezuela JV’s
Despite US sanctions and the departure of other international oil companies (IOCs) such as ExxonMobil Corporation and Conocophillips, among others during an asset expropriation period in the early 2000s, Chevron continues to operate in Venezuela through its local subsidiary Chevron Venezuela.
Chevron works in partnership with affiliates of Caracas-based PDVSA in 4 onshore and offshore production projects in Western and Eastern Venezuela, in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Of the 5 projects, 4 are non-operated while 3 are focused on heavy or extra-heavy crude oil (EHCO) in the OPEC country.
These Chevron projects include:
1) Petroboscán, operated by Petroboscán, S.A., and focused on the Boscan field in Zulia State, Western Venezuela. Type of crude: Heavy. Chevron interest in the project: 39.2%;
2) Petroindependiente, operated by Petroindependiente, S.A., and focused on the LL-652-field in Lake Maracaibo, Western Venezuela. Type of crude: Light. Chevron interest in the project: 25.2%;
3) Petropiar, operated by Petropiar, S.A., and focused on activities in the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt, also known as the Faja. There, the vertically integrated project processes EHCO from the Huyapari field and upgrades it to a lighter, higher-value synthetic oil. Type of crude: EHCO. Chevron interest in the project: 30%;
4) Petroindependencia, operated by Petroindependencia, S.A., and focused on the Carabobo 3 project. There the extra-heavy oil project is in 3 blocks within the Carabobo area of the Faja. Type of crude: EHCO. Chevron interest in the project: 36.21%; and
5) Loran, a gas project in Block 2 Plataforma Deltana – Offshore. The Loran field forms a single cross-border field along the maritime border of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.
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By Pietro D. Pitts reporting from Houston. © 2025 Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights Reserved.
