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An inactive oil pumpjack stands in Cabimas, Venezuela, September 2, 2026
US ENERGY Secretary Chris Wright is in Venezuela overseeing the final stages of a controversial energy agreement allowing the US, in partnership with a private Venezuelan company, to get control of a fifth of Venezuela’s oil reserves.
US oil giant Chevron announced today it would invest $7 billion (£5.2bn) to double its Venezuelan oil production to 600,000 barrels a day, and had secured the right to develop two new oilfields in the Carabobo region.
Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, who has headed the government since the US kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, says the agreement will allow Venezuela to raise production to 1.5 million barrels a day, with $19 per barrel sold going to the Venezuelan public, allowing it to undo economic damage caused by years of US sanctions.
She insists the state retains full sovereign control of all mineral resources, including oil, under Venezuelan ground.
International solidarity can ensure that Trump and his machine cannot prevail without a level of political and economic cost that he will not want to pay, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
The global left must be unwavering in it is support for Venezuela as Washington increases its aggression, and clear-eyed about the West’s cynical motives for targeting it, says CLAUDIA WEBBE