Chevron and PDVSA shake hands on asset swap in Venezuela

April 14, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

U.S.-headquartered energy giant Chevron has sealed a deal to exchange assets with Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) and its subsidiaries to consolidate focus on strategic assets in Venezuela.

Man with a hardhat with words "Chevron" on it with an offshore rig in the background — Illustration; Source: Chevron

While announcing its asset swap agreement with PDVSA, Chevron explains that this move consolidates its Venezuela heavy oil position, enabling the firm to gain an additional 13.21% working interest in the Petroindependencia joint venture, raising its total stake to 49%, and rights for Petropiar (where it holds 30%) to develop the adjacent Ayacucho 8 area in the Orinoco Oil Belt.

The assets being transferred entail the U.S. giant’s 60% and 100% operated interests in offshore Plataforma Deltana Block 2, which contains the Loran gas discovery, and Block 3, encompassing the Macuira gas discovery, licenses, and its 25.2% non-operated interest in the Petroindependiente joint venture in western Venezuela.

Javier La Rosa, President of Chevron Base Assets and Emerging Countries, commented: “This agreement expands Chevron’s heavy oil position in two key joint ventures in Venezuela and reflects our disciplined development of the country’s significant resources.

“Ayacucho 8 is a producing asset in close proximity to Petropiar, which enhances development efficiencies. This asset swap marks another important step in Chevron’s long history in Venezuela and reinforces our role in supporting regional energy security.”

While Petroindependencia and Petropiar produce extra-heavy oil from the Orinoco Oil Belt, Chevron maintains a broad Latin American footprint, with operations in Argentina, Guyana, Venezuela, and exploration blocks in Brazil, Suriname, Uruguay, and Peru.

The U.S. player’s subsidiary recently announced a final investment decision (FID) for a planned expansion of gas export capacity from a giant natural gas field project offshore Israel.