U.S. moves quickly to broaden Chevron license, shifting Venezuelan oil marketing

Allowing Chevron to pay Caracas in cash rather than oil-in-kind would fundamentally change how Venezuelan crude is marketed and who benefits from its sales, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said as the administration moved rapidly to expand the company’s operating license. Wright said officials were working "as fast as it can" to grant the broader authorization and that the shift would allow Chevron "to become immediately, another marketer of crude as well," potentially routing proceeds into U.S. financial institutions.

Under Chevron’s current license, royalties and taxes have been settled in oil-in-kind, a mechanism that has limited the share of Venezuelan production the company could export to roughly half. Converting to cash payments would free much of that oil for marketing, substantially increasing the volume Chevron could place on global markets and altering the short-term distribution of proceeds away from state-in-kind allocations.

The move follows a sequence of licensing steps over the past several years: a 2022 authorization that permitted Chevron’s joint venture with Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) to produce and export, and a more restrictive July 2025 license that allowed pumping but barred proceeds from reaching the Maduro government. The political backdrop has also shifted, with Venezuelan leadership changed earlier this month, a development U.S. officials cite as enabling renewed engagement with the country’s oil sector.

The practical effects for global supply, however, are likely to be muted in the near term. Venezuela’s current crude output remains low by historical standards, with estimates clustering around 100,000 to 150,000 barrels per day. Data from trade monitoring in late 2025 show Chevron exporting roughly 140,000 barrels per day from Venezuela in the fourth quarter, and analysts at JPMorgan estimate the company’s joint ventures account for about 23 percent of national output. Chevron’s return to operations has coincided with strong corporate results; the company reported $3.6 billion in earnings in its most recent quarter.

Policy officials say shifting to cash payments could also reshape where money flows. Wright indicated that funds from oil sales "may eventually move to U.S. banks," a change with clear implications for sanctions enforcement, transparency and U.S. leverage over revenue distribution in Caracas. The administration has already discussed marketing stranded Venezuelan barrels through U.S. channels, previously framing plans to handle as much as 50 million barrels.

Despite the potential for greater U.S. control of sales, industry analysts caution that production rebounds will be constrained by Venezuela’s deteriorated infrastructure. Restoring midstream, heavy-crude handling and export facilities will require substantial capital and time; as Argus Media analyst Gus Vasquez warned, "there is no realistic prospect of immediately increasing Venezuela’s crude output." Estimates of the investment needed to return to meaningful pre-decline volumes run into the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars and would demand both technical work and sustained political stability.

Chevron emphasized operational continuity and regulatory compliance in response to the licensing moves, saying it "remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets" and that it "continues to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations." Other U.S. oil companies appear cautious; industry sources say few are currently preparing to re-enter Venezuelan operations.

If approved, the license expansion would mark a significant U.S. policy pivot toward reactivating Venezuelan crude sales under American oversight, with implications for Gulf Coast refiners, global heavy-crude pricing and the political economics of Venezuelan oil revenues.