Finance · Euroglobal New
– This is the script of CNBC's financial news report for China's CCTV on SEPTEMBER 03, 2026. On the issue of energy development in Venezuela, the U.S. government has consistently emphasized that it hopes future investments and operations will be primarily driven by corporate commercial activities. However, policy adjustments by both the U.S. and Venezuela have indeed provided significant momentum toward reaching this newly announced investment agreement.
On the U.S. side, the Treasury Department just adjusted certain sanctions and licensing policies regarding Venezuela on August 27, explicitly stating its support for U.S. companies reinvesting in the Venezuelan energy sector. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth noted that Venezuela's interim government recently amended its hydrocarbon-related laws and investment framework, adjusting taxes, royalties, and other commercial terms while strengthening legal protections for investments. Mike Wirth CEO Chevron we've seen a significant change in the fiscal and commercial terms and the legal framework for investments in Venezuela//// cut to ///And it has taken this from not being very competitive within our set of alternatives to something that's very competitive versus our options around the world.
Which is why we're willing to commit significant capital and grow the way we are. In the interview, Wirth projected that Chevron's all-in production costs for its projects in Venezuela can be kept under $20 per barrel. However, he also emphasized that achieving large-scale production increases in Venezuela is far from as easy as the market imagines.
Mike Wirth CEO Chevron Growing production takes time. It takes money. It takes engineering.
It takes supply chains. We need to bring rigs in from outside the country, and we're going to fund this within these ventures and grow steadily over time. 300,000 barrels over just a few years is actually a significant rate of growth in our industry. Chevron has an operating history of over 100 years in Venezuela and currently conducts business through joint ventures with Venezuela's state-owned oil company, PDVSA, making it the only major U.S. oil company still operating locally.
By contrast, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips remain far more cautious about re-entering the Venezuelan market. This divergence dates back to a wave of oil industry nationalization pushed by the Venezuelan government in 2007. For ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, legal certainty and contract enforceability are critical preconditions for re-entering Venezuela.
Chevron's newly announced agreement plans to double its production in Venezuela within five years. In Wirth's view, this is already a very rapid pace for the industry, but the Trump administration is targeting even higher numbers. Chris Wright US Department of Energy Secretary Today it's over 1.2 million barrels a day.
Think we'll be well over a million and a half barrels a day by the first half of next year, and Venezuelan production will be over 2 million barrels a day by the end of this decade, Therefore, with other oil majors still harboring reservations, what further steps the Trump administration might take to allay these concerns will be a key focus to watch next.
Source: CNBC
