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Chevron (NYSE:CVX) has restarted drilling at a key Venezuelan oil field even as the Biden administration threatens to renew sanctions on the country, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
Work reportedly has been underway since mid-February at the heavy crude area of the Orinoco Belt, an area that represents Chevron’s (CVX) best and perhaps only near-term opportunity to increase production in Venezuela, as the other two fields operated by the company will start declining soon.
The work is part of a plan to drill as many as 30 new wells through 2025, according to the report; the flow is expected to increase the overall production at Chevron’s three jointly run ventures with the state oil company PDVSA by 35% to 250K bbl/day by 2025, leading to more supply shipped to the U.S.
According to the report, drilling is taking place at the Petroindependencia field in the plains of the Orinoco Belt, the world’s largest extra heavy oil reserves, and a second drill is planned to be deployed in July.
Unlike other Chevron-run (CVX) areas, the field is underdeveloped and has been projected by PDVSA to produce as many as 400K bbl/day at full capacity.