{"id":39941,"date":"2026-01-09T11:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=39941"},"modified":"2026-01-09T11:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:13:10","slug":"mike-wirths-long-bet-on-trump-and-venezuela-set-to-pay-off-for-chevron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=39941","title":{"rendered":"Mike Wirth\u2019s long bet on Trump and Venezuela set to pay off for Chevron"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There is no Big Oil executive closer to Donald Trump than Mike Wirth.<\/p>\n

The US president likes to talk business and speak regularly to the Chevron boss on the phone, said several people familiar with the relationship.<\/p>\n

Now those ties are paying off handsomely, as Chevron<\/a> seeks to capitalise on its position as the only US oil company on the ground in Venezuela<\/a>. Analysts and oil industry insiders say the company will have a multiyear advantage over its rivals as they weigh the risks and challenges of entering the unstable Latin American state, which has some of the biggest oil reserves in the world.<\/p>\n

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday confirmed Chevron is \u201cobviously at the front of the pack\u201d. He also said he too had been regularly on the phone to Wirth. \u201cI\u2019ve been in contact with him for the past year just in dealing with the sanctions regime,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Chevron will be among the big oil companies at the White House on Friday for talks on how to rebuild Venezuela\u2019s decrepit oil infrastructure, after the US toppled strongman leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro last week. Trump and energy analysts say the reconstruction effort could take years and cost many billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

Chevron is negotiating with Washington to boost exports from its joint venture operations with Venezuela\u2019s state oil company Petr\u00f3leos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and is preparing to process more oil at its Pascagoula refinery in Mississippi.<\/p>\n

Scott Sheffield, a Texas shale tycoon who lived in Venezuela during the country\u2019s oil boom in the 1970s, said: \u201cAnytime you stay in a country like Chevron has for such a long time, and taking big risks, and then a leader changes from a positive standpoint, I think it helps them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s effort to take control of Venezuela\u2019s oil sector<\/a> gives Chevron \u201can opportunity to ship more product to their Gulf Coast refineries and develop their upstream operations in the country\u201d, Sheffield added. \u201cThere is so much potential in Venezuela.\u201d <\/p>\n

It would amount to a big success for Wirth, who joined Chevron 43 years ago when Venezuela \u2014 a founding member of Opec \u2014 was a global oil power pumping almost 2mn barrels per day. Despite the nation\u2019s huge reserves, mismanagement, corruption and US sanctions have cut production, which is now less than 1mn b\/d. <\/p>\n

Oil industry insiders say Wirth worked astutely to build a relationship with Trump that helped Chevron win a special licence from Washington to operate in Venezuela, which is under US sanctions. <\/p>\n

Rivals including Spain\u2019s Repsol, Eni, France\u2019s Maurel & Prom and Global Oil Terminals, a US company controlled by Harry Sargeant III, a Florida magnate who is a Republican donor, failed to secure that kind of exemption from the Treasury.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike is driving it. By the end of Trump\u2019s first term, he was on speed dial to Steve Mnuchin, who plugged him into Trump,\u201d said one former Chevron executive referring to the former Treasury secretary. \u201cThat\u2019s how we kept getting [Office of Foreign Assets Control] licences. Wirth\u2019s relationship with the White House, especially Mnuchin and [former economic adviser Larry] Kudlow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chevron spent $9.2mn on lobbying and made $10mn in campaign donations in 2024, mostly to Republicans. Like its rival ExxonMobil and a host of other big US companies, Chevron was among donors to Trump\u2019s inauguration.<\/p>\n

Wirth tried to ingratiate his company with the president, say industry insiders. This included being the first Big Oil boss to adopt Trump\u2019s name for the Gulf of Mexico: the \u201cGulf of America\u201d. <\/p>\n

The importance of the relationship with Trump and the challenges and opportunities ahead in Venezuela suggest that the 65-year-old Wirth, who in December<\/a> said he was discussing succession with Chevron\u2019s board, may have to extend his tenure. <\/p>\n

The close relationship with an administration that just snatched a foreign leader from his bedroom and flew him to New York is fraught with risk, say analysts. <\/p>\n

Democrats in the US Senate have launched an investigation to find out what oil companies knew about the mission to capture Maduro.<\/p>\n

The senators wrote in a letter to Chevron and other oil companies: \u201cWe would like to know the extent to which US oil and gas companies such as yours had either advance knowledge of or the ability to shape American foreign policy decisions \u2014 especially given that Congress was kept in the dark concerning the use of force until after the strikes occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chevron has said it \u201chad no advance notice\u201d and did not \u201cengage in any discussions with administration officials regarding governance for a post-Maduro Venezuela\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale professor who previously advised the US government on sanctions policy, said oil companies should be concerned not to become co-conspirators in any violation of international law. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis could be devastating for them and members of their boards, who represent other companies in different fields,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Experts say the \u201cbillions of dollars\u201d Trump claims US oil companies such as Chevron will spend to rebuild Venezuela\u2019s industry also carry risk.<\/p>\n