Exon Mobile V.S. Chevron Venezuela

Recent events and how Corporations control our economy 

Week 2 Assignment 

Arguments for and against concerning Venezuela's resources

• Venezuela's oil is not your average oil
  
• Oil price drops (1/15/26)
• Increasing oil output will take years
• Undoing corruption in the country
  

Chevron's Interests

What I find most interesting about the recent events in this little country is not so much the corrupt president or the also corrupt officials, but how, even today, there is only one major oil company pumping and shipping crude oil out of that little country. I want to explore how Chevron's gamble now seems to have paid off. In January 2026, Chevron's interest in Venezuelan oil reached a critical turning point following the removal of former President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces. As the only U.S. oil major that maintained a continuous presence in the country, Chevron is now positioned to make major returns in the years it has spent there.

• Market control-since the United States has taken control of the country, Chevron is already getting new licenses, terms, and royalties. granting them almost double the output they have previously been permitted. 
• Cash Flow Boost-Since recent events, a lot of analysts are predicting a minimum of 300 million dollars of cash flow increase. 
• Refining the oil-One of the major points of interest is that Chevron's U.S. Gulf Coast refineries are specifically designed to process Venezuela’s heavy, sour crude, providing a significant advantage with production and downstream profits.
• First-come, first-served-While rivals like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips currently view Venezuela as "uninvestable" due to security risks and lack of legal framework, Chevron’s active footprint allows it to serve as a primary competitor in the constantly changing dynamic of natural resources on our planet, and how they are extracted, processed, and sold.

Exxon Mobil's interest

• Late to the party-while everyone else wrote off the 3rd largest oil reserve, including Exxon Mobile, which publicly claims to have no current interest in oil coming from Venezuela, calling the country "uninvestable" without durable legal protections, and other provisions.
• Assessment-While they claim to have little to no interest in the country's reserves, they are ready to send assessment teams to the country, now that it is under American control.
• Neighbors- ExxonMobil focused on nearby opportunities and made significant oil discoveries in offshore Guyana, a region currently in a territorial dispute with Venezuela. I believe that the Company had licensing disputes with the neighboring country. 
• Past history-Exxon and ConocoPhillips were key partners of Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, before former President Hugo Chavez nationalized the industry between 2004 and 2007. Chevron negotiated a deal that allowed them to stay in the county while facing large arbitration claims. However, with President Trump taking over the Country, they are in a very profitable position. 

My thoughts, comments, and opinions

The reasoning that drove my idea to dig into this context was actually a lot closer to why our current president thought to sail an entire battlegroup to this little country under the guise of stopping the shipping of drugs(maybe I'll blog that one later). When I started to look more into it, and as we are all realising, it was more about the oil. Without getting too far off topic, we may want to look into the last week, and how there is talk about Greenland also. Back on topic, what made me choose to stick with this idea was mostly how, around 2004-2007, due to a combination of licensing issues, the former president had nationalised the industry. Leaving Chevron as the only company left. Today, they still have multiple lawsuits they are fighting. I, however, would say that after our military involvement, the company hedged its bets quite well. Taking Bold steps, in my opinion, yields greater rewards. As for how these company's are marketing their product, it sells itself. And until alternative energy methods become cheaper and easier to access by the middle class, fossil fuels will continue to remain our addiction.