New York, Jan 7, 2026, 05:39 EST — Premarket
- Oil majors fell in premarket trading as crude extended losses on U.S.-Venezuela supply headlines.
- Refiners and services names also slipped, despite talk of cheaper heavy crude flows to the Gulf Coast.
- Focus turns to U.S. inventory data due later Wednesday and further signals on Venezuela policy.
Chevron and Exxon Mobil slid in U.S. premarket trading on Wednesday as crude prices fell after U.S. President Donald Trump said Venezuela would supply up to $2 billion worth of oil to the United States. Chevron was down 4.4% at $156.54 and Exxon fell 3.4% to $121.05, while ConocoPhillips dropped 2.2% to $97.11; Brent was down 0.6% at about $60.35 a barrel and U.S. WTI fell 0.9% to roughly $56.61. 1
The Venezuela headlines hit a market already leaning bearish on oil, with growing supplies and softer demand keeping a lid on prices and, by extension, the earnings power of oil stocks. A Reuters poll published on Monday forecast Brent averaging $61.27 a barrel in 2026 and U.S. crude at $58.15, and Oxford Economics’ Bridget Payne said steady output through the first quarter does not change the underlying surplus. 2
Trump said Venezuela would “turn over” 30 million to 50 million barrels of “sanctioned oil” to the U.S., to be sold at market price under a plan executed by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. U.S. and Venezuelan officials discussed possible auctions for cargoes and new U.S. licenses for PDVSA partners, sources told Reuters, a set-up that could reshape who captures the trade and how quickly barrels move. Chevron is currently the only U.S. firm authorized to export Venezuelan crude and has been shipping roughly 100,000 to 150,000 bpd (barrels per day) to U.S. ports, while Venezuela’s Merey grade has recently traded at a steep discount to Brent, Reuters reported. 3
A fuller return of Venezuelan barrels would likely show up first in U.S. refiners’ feedstock costs because Gulf Coast plants are built to run heavy sour crude — oil that is dense and high in sulfur. The Gulf Coast can absorb much of Venezuela’s roughly 1 million bpd of exports operationally, but the barrels would clear by displacing other heavy grades and competing aggressively on price, said Rommel Oates of Refinery Calculator; Barclays analyst Theresa Chen has said Valero alone could process an extra 300,000 to 400,000 bpd. Refiners were lower in premarket trading, with Valero down 1.2%, Phillips 66 off 2.4%, PBF Energy down 7.7% and Marathon Petroleum down 2.6%. 4
Valero also has a California headline in play after Governor Gavin Newsom said the refiner would keep importing gasoline into Northern California after its Benicia refinery stops operating in April, rather than exiting the market. Valero said it would idle the site in phases starting in February for state inspections and supply the region through inventories and imports while it evaluates strategic options for the asset. 5
Chevron is juggling separate portfolio news after Shell agreed to buy a 35% stake in two undeveloped ultra-deepwater blocks offshore Angola from a Chevron subsidiary, with government approval in hand and final legal requirements pending. Shell said new exploration in Angola is important to sustaining production into the 2030s. 6
Oilfield services names, which tend to track expectations for drilling and project spending, also leaned lower. SLB was down 0.4% and Halliburton fell 3.4%, while producers were mixed with Occidental up 1.3% and EOG Resources down 1.1%.
But investors are wary that a lasting rebuild of Venezuela’s output could take years and carry political and cost risk, especially because much of the country’s resource is heavy and extra-heavy crude that needs upgrading and diluent. Consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimates breakeven costs for key grades in the Orinoco belt average above $80 a barrel, and Welligence Energy analyst Carlos Bellorin said the opportunity would need to outweigh the political risk that could persist for years. 7
Traders get their next near-term read on U.S. supply when the Energy Information Administration releases its Weekly Petroleum Status Report at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday. Investors are also watching U.S. labor data — ADP private payrolls and the JOLTS job openings report later on Wednesday and the monthly employment report on Friday — for clues on rate expectations and fuel demand, factors that can swing oil and oil stocks alike. 8
