Oil giant Chevron confirmed that it would expand operations in Venezuela after US President Donald Trump announced an ambitious deal to develop the nation’s oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits.Chevron, the only US oil company with a major presence in Venezuela, said on Wednesday that it had been assigned additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, where it has active operations.The company plans to invest more than US$7 billion over the next five years, with the goal of more than doubling its current production to about 600,000 barrels a day.“Chevron’s history in Venezuela spans more than a century, and our expanded position reflects our confidence in the country’s deep resource potential,” CEO Mike Wirth said in a prepared statement.Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven reserves, totalling more than 303 billion barrels of crude oil, according to Opec’s 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin. Saudi Arabia is a distant second with 267 billion barrels.US Energy Secretary Chris Wright meets with Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on Wednesday. Photo: APYet because Venezuela’s energy infrastructure is severely degraded and the nation is operating under international sanctions, its daily production is just over 1 million barrels, compared with the 10 million to 11 million barrels that Saudi Arabia produces each day. The US produces almost 14 million barrels per day.