Chevron, KEO Capital, ENI and Primavera to sign energy pacts in Venezuela soon, sources say

Oil producers Chevron and ENI and ​investors KEO Capital and Primavera ‌are among the ​companies set to sign energy agreements in Venezuela as soon as Wednesday, two sources close to the preparations said. Most pacts imply ‌project expansions that have been in negotiation with Venezuela's oil ministry and state oil company PDVSA as part of the migration of dozens of energy contracts to new terms under a sweeping ‌oil reform approved in January.

U.S. oil major Chevron plans to invest more than $7 billion to ‌more than double crude production in the OPEC country to about 600,000 barrels per day over the next five years, part of its strategy of expanding joint ventures with PDVSA, it said on Wednesday in a release. Last ⁠week, ​KEO Capital said in ⁠a release that one of its U.S. subsidiaries had reached an agreement for the Petrourdaneta oil joint venture with ⁠PDVSA, following the approval of its board, turning the company into the project's operator and including a $350-million ​credit facility.

ENI, on its side, which shares an offshore gas project with Repsol and a ⁠shallow water oil project with PDVSA, is seeking to expand oil operations in Venezuela through a new area in ⁠the ​Orinoco Belt, according to separate sources. The company told Reuters last week it was working with its Venezuelan counterparties to "support the revitalization of the country's energy sector." It declined ⁠to provide details.

Primavera, a firm co-founded by billionaire Fred Ehrsam to invest in Venezuela, could not ⁠be reached immediately ⁠for comment. Venezuela's oil minister, Paula Henao, and U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, who arrived in Caracas late on Tuesday, are expected to oversee the ‌signing of ‌the contracts, officials have said.