U.S. administration officials have opened discussions with Chevron and several of the world’s largest oilfield service companies about a plan intended to accelerate Venezuela’s crude production recovery. The conversations have included proposals to send teams and equipment from SLB, Halliburton and Baker Hughes to carry out repairs, replace obsolete components and rehabilitate older drilling locations, according to senior officials familiar with the talks.
Officials involved say the approach emphasizes rapid, targeted interventions rather than long-term capital projects. With relatively limited investment, the officials estimate Venezuela could lift output by several hundred thousand barrels per day in the short term by using modern U.S. equipment and established production techniques to revitalise existing wells and bring incremental production online within months.
The administration has signaled a desire to increase Venezuelan oil output, a goal underscored by recent public comments from the U.S. President that American oil companies will soon begin drilling in Venezuela. The push to accelerate production follows events involving Venezuela’s leadership that the administration has cited in making this a priority. The report of the talks could not be immediately verified.
Attempts to obtain comment from the White House, Chevron, SLB, Baker Hughes and Halliburton did not produce immediate responses to requests for comment.
Context and commercial outreach
Administration discussions have included operational details such as deploying crews to repair and replace outdated equipment at existing fields and refreshing older drilling sites to restore productive capacity faster than would be possible with solely domestic investment. Officials describe this work as focused on bringing wells back into better operational condition and adding near-term output rather than on major new exploration campaigns.
Market and industry implications
- Rapid rehabilitation of existing wells could meaningfully increase short-term supply from Venezuela.
- Oilfield services firms named in the talks would be central to any operational effort to restore flows.
- Any increase in Venezuelan production could affect regional oil markets and service demand.
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