NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 12:28 EST — Regular session
- Chevron shares rose about 1.5% in midday trading.
- Chevron, Vitol and Trafigura are vying for U.S. deals tied to Venezuelan crude exports, sources say.
- Investors are watching for any shift in Chevron’s Venezuela sanctions license ahead of Jan. 30 results.
Chevron shares rose about 1.5% to $161.57 in midday trading on Friday, keeping the oil major in focus as Washington weighs who gets to move Venezuelan crude under new U.S. oversight. Jean-Francois Lambert of consultancy Lambert Commodities said trading houses bring “global reach and optionality” that majors often lack. Reuters
The move matters because Chevron is heading into a White House meeting later on Friday with other oil producers and trading firms as the Trump administration pushes a plan to steer Venezuelan oil sales, people familiar with the matter said. Some shareholders are already drawing a line on spending: “If Chevron says we’re going to dedicate multi-billion dollars a year to Venezuela, we would probably sell,” said Matthew Sallee, head of investments at Tortoise Capital, which owns Chevron shares. Reuters
Chevron is also in talks with the U.S. government to expand a sanctions license — a waiver that lets it operate in Venezuela despite broader U.S. restrictions — so it can lift crude exports to its refineries and sell to other buyers, sources close to the negotiations said. Additional limits imposed in July cut Venezuelan crude exports to about 100,000 barrels per day in December from 250,000 earlier in the year, the report said.
Oil prices were higher again on Friday as traders priced in supply risks tied to Iran and Venezuela. Brent was up about 0.8% at $62.49 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate — the main U.S. crude benchmark — gained about 0.9% to $58.27 earlier in the day; Ole Hansen, head of commodity analysis at Saxo Bank, said “Iran protests seem to be gathering momentum.” Reuters
For Chevron, the near-term prize is less about building new fields overnight and more about barrels, paperwork and ships. A bigger flow of Venezuelan heavy crude can feed Gulf Coast refineries built to run it, but the terms — who markets, who pays, and where cash ends up — are still being argued over.
There is a downside case. Venezuela’s political transition remains unsettled, and the industry has long memories of expropriations and contract resets. Even if Washington loosens the rules, Chevron still has to prove the math works, especially if crude prices slide back under the weight of rising global inventories.
Traders are watching Friday’s White House meeting for any signal on how quickly U.S. approvals could move and whether a wider group of buyers and shippers will be allowed into the market. Any new tightening around the embargo — or a fresh set of tanker seizures — would complicate the whole trade.
Next up is Chevron’s quarterly report and call on Jan. 30, when CEO Mike Wirth and CFO Eimear Bonner are scheduled to speak, giving investors a first formal read on how the company frames Venezuela exposure, capital discipline and cash returns.
