Chevron, PdV sign new deals in Venezuela

US oil major Chevron and Venezuela's state-owned oil company PdV signed updates to four existing oil production agreements today but did not provide details of the arrangements.

Representatives of the two companies and Venezuelan oil minister Tareck El Aissami signed documents in a formal ceremony today in Caracas before the media and other officials.

Venezuelan oil production and exports have been hamstrung for several years under US-imposed sanctions. PdV is the majority shareholder in Chevron's oil assets in the country, of which only PetroPiar and PetroBoscan in western Venezuela were active when the US company was forced to halt activities in 2020. Chevron has 30pc of PetroPiar and 39pc of PetroBoscan. The company also has 34pc of the PetroIndependencia joint venture in the oil belt, and 25pc of PetroIndependiente in the west. And on the maritime border with Trinidad and Tobago, Chevron has 60pc of the Loran natural gas field.

Aissami said the renewed agreements, which are allowed under a slight loosening of sanctions now that the administration of President Nicolas Maduro has resumed talks with the political opposition, "are not enough" and called for the US to keep lifting sanctions.

By Carlos Camacho