NEW YORK, January 4, 2026, 03:47 ET — Market closed
Chevron Corp (CVX) shares rose 2.3% to close at $155.90 on Friday. Weekend reports said Venezuela’s oil exports have been paralyzed, including tankers chartered by state-run PDVSA’s main partner Chevron. Port captains have not received requests to authorize loaded ships to set sail, and a prolonged halt could force output cuts as storage fills, the sources said. 1
The timing matters for energy traders because crude markets are trying to find direction after a bruising year. Brent settled at $60.75 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) ended at $57.32 on Friday, after both benchmarks posted nearly 20% annual losses in 2025. OPEC+, the producer group that includes OPEC and allies such as Russia, meets on Sunday, and traders widely expect it to keep pausing planned output increases for the first quarter, Reuters reported. 2
President Donald Trump said on Saturday that large U.S. oil companies would spend billions to help restore Venezuela’s oil output after Nicolás Maduro was captured and removed by U.S. forces, while keeping an oil embargo in place. Chevron, which exports about 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Venezuela to the U.S. Gulf Coast, said it continues to operate in full compliance with relevant laws and regulations; Reuters reported the company was granted a new restricted authorization in July after Trump ended a previous export license in February. “It will take tens of billions of dollars to turn that industry around,” said Peter McNally, global head of sector analysts at Third Bridge. 3
Exxon Mobil shares gained 1.9% on Friday, as the Dow and S&P 500 rose and the Nasdaq slipped slightly in holiday-thinned trading. Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields climbed as investors looked ahead to next week’s employment data and other delayed indicators. 4
For Chevron, Venezuela is a small slice of global output but an outsized policy risk because U.S. rules determine whether it can lift crude, ship it and recover money under sanctions.
A sustained stoppage in Venezuelan loadings would also matter for refiners. Heavy crude from the region can help Gulf Coast plants optimize yields when blended with lighter shale oil.
Oil’s broader setup remains the other driver. Investors have been weighing oversupply concerns against geopolitical disruptions, a tug-of-war that has kept crude from breaking out even as headline risks have flared.
That range-bound tape tends to push stock-specific stories to the front. For integrated majors like Chevron, lower crude prices can pressure upstream earnings, while refining and marketing can offset some volatility when product margins cooperate.
On Friday, CVX bounced from an intraday low near $151 and ended near session highs. Some chart-focused traders call that area “support” — a level where buying interest tends to show up — with resistance around $156.
Before next session, investors will be watching for any formal update on Venezuela’s export procedures and the status of ships waiting to load. Any restart — or further stoppage — would feed quickly into crude “differentials,” the price gaps between heavier and lighter grades.
Attention will also be on Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting and the market’s first reaction when trading resumes, with Brent hovering around the low-$60s. In equities, traders will sift next week’s U.S. data for clues on growth and the Federal Reserve path, which can move the dollar and, in turn, commodity prices.
