Six Months After Maduro, Exxon and Conoco Still Wait
Chevron is still the only major U.S. oil company lifting and exporting Venezuelan crude. Exxon and Conoco remain on the sidelines as PDVSA talks drag well past Washington's January timetable.
More than half a year after the U.S. captured and removed Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela, only Chevron among the largest American oil companies is producing and exporting Venezuelan crude to the United States, with ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips still absent as talks led by state oil firm PDVSA move slower than Washington expected in January.
Half a year on from the U.S. operation that captured and removed Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela, the commercial sequel Washington appeared to expect has not arrived. The country that holds the world's largest proved oil reserves still has just one large American operator lifting barrels: Chevron Corp. (CVX), which stayed through Maduro's entire tenure and continues to extract crude and ship it to U.S. refiners.
ExxonMobil (XOM) and ConocoPhillips (COP) have not gone back. Negotiations are being run by PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company, and according to OilPrice they are not moving at the pace the U.S. administration seemed to anticipate back in January.
Why Chevron's head start is hard to copy
Chevron's position in Venezuela is not a matter of appetite for risk so much as continuity. It never left. That means it holds joint-venture structures with PDVSA that already exist, staff and contractors who already know the fields, and export logistics that already function — crude physically moving to the United States. A company restarting from zero has to negotiate all of that afresh with a state company whose bargaining position, terms and creditworthiness are the central question in every conversation.
For Exxon and Conoco, the calculus is different in kind, not just degree. Both are large-capital allocators with global project queues, and both have long-standing disputes tied to their former Venezuelan assets. Neither has signalled a return. In practice that means the reopening of the world's biggest reserve base is, so far, a one-company story on the U.S. side — and one company cannot lift national output the way a consortium of majors could.
PDVSA is the bottleneck, not the geology
Venezuela's constraint has never been what is in the ground. It is above-ground: the terms on which a foreign operator can book, produce, sell and get paid for barrels, and the legal durability of whatever contract is signed. Those are exactly the questions PDVSA is now being asked to answer, and they are slow questions by nature.
Anyone weighing a return has to be satisfied on several fronts at once — the shape of the joint-venture or service contract, control over operations and spending, how export revenue flows and to whom, and how prior claims against the state and its oil company are treated. None of that is settled by a change at the top in Caracas. Political change removes an obstacle; it does not by itself create a bankable contract.
That gap between political timeline and commercial timeline is the story here. Governments count in weeks and press conferences. Oil companies count in decades of field life and in the cost of writing off an asset twice.
What the tape said on Monday
The three names in this story all finished the most recent session lower. Chevron's last trade was 203.09, down 1.06% from a prior close of 205.27, having ranged between 201.75 and 205.30. ExxonMobil closed at 164.05, down 0.64% against a previous close of 165.11, with a day range of 162.25 to 165.22. ConocoPhillips settled at 133.35, off 1.13% from 134.87, in a band of 132.93 to 135.63. All figures are as of the last trade at 20:00 GMT on Monday, 24 August 2026; markets were closed at the time of writing.
All figures are as of the last trade at 20:00 GMT on Monday, 24 August 2026; markets were closed at the time of writing.
The wider backdrop was mixed rather than directional. The S&P 500 tracker (SPY) closed at $763.47, down 0.29%. The Nasdaq 100 proxy (QQQ) fell 1.00% to $706.32. The Dow 30 fund (DIA) went the other way, up 0.27% at $533.65. In other words, the energy names moved in line with a soft, technology-led session rather than in response to anything specific out of Caracas — which is itself the point. Venezuelan re-entry is not currently a live valuation input for Exxon or Conoco, because there is nothing to price.
Who is exposed to the delay
Several groups have a stake in how long this drags.
- U.S. Gulf Coast refiners. Heavy, sour Venezuelan crude is a natural feed for coking-heavy Gulf refineries. Chevron's exports to the U.S. are a trickle relative to what a fully rehabilitated Venezuelan industry could send, so refiners keep sourcing heavy barrels elsewhere.
- Chevron shareholders. For now, incumbency is an advantage. If Exxon and Conoco eventually secure terms, that advantage narrows.
- Venezuela itself. Reserves generate nothing without capital, drilling rigs, workover crews, power and export infrastructure. Every quarter of stalled negotiation is a quarter of foregone revenue for the state.
- Washington. The implicit bet in January was that removing Maduro would unlock supply. Slower barrels mean less of a policy dividend in oil markets.
The markers worth watching from here
Three things would tell you the picture is genuinely changing. First, a signed framework — any signed framework — between PDVSA and a major other than Chevron, with published terms rather than a memorandum of intent. Second, movement on legacy claims: until the treatment of past disputes is resolved, a new contract sits on unstable ground. Third, Chevron's own export cadence to the United States. If the incumbent starts scaling volumes materially, it suggests operating conditions and payment mechanics are improving in ways that would matter to any newcomer.
Absent those, the base case is continuity: Chevron produces and exports, Exxon and Conoco watch, PDVSA negotiates, and the world's largest reserve holder stays well below what its geology implies. Reserves are a stock. Production is a flow. Venezuela's problem, six months after the political shock, remains the machinery that converts one into the other.
Key facts
- Chevron (CVX) last trade: 203.09, -1.06%, as of 24 Aug 2026 20:00 GMT
- ExxonMobil (XOM) last trade: 164.05, -0.64%, same session
- ConocoPhillips (COP) last trade: 133.35, -1.13%, same session
- Time elapsed since Maduro's removal: More than half a year, with talks led by PDVSA still unresolved
Frequently asked questions
Which U.S. oil major is currently producing in Venezuela?
Chevron. It operated in Venezuela throughout Nicolas Maduro's time in power and continues to extract crude and export it to the United States. That continuity gives it existing joint-venture arrangements with PDVSA, in-country personnel and functioning export logistics that a returning competitor would have to negotiate and rebuild from scratch.
Why haven't ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips returned?
Neither has gone back, and negotiations run by Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA are progressing more slowly than the U.S. administration appeared to expect in January. The obstacles are contractual and legal rather than geological: the terms of any new venture, control of operations and revenue, and the treatment of long-standing disputes over former assets.
How large are Venezuela's oil reserves?
Venezuela holds the world's largest proved oil reserves. That distinction is about the volume in the ground, not the volume produced. Turning reserves into flowing, exportable barrels requires capital, drilling and workover equipment, power, skilled labour and export infrastructure — all of which depend on contracts that have not yet been agreed with foreign operators.
Did the removal of Maduro change oil markets immediately?
Not in the way Washington seemed to anticipate. More than six months later, only Chevron among the large American firms is lifting and exporting Venezuelan crude. Political change removed one obstacle but did not by itself produce bankable contracts, which is why supply has not scaled up on the timeline implied in January.
How did the three companies trade in the most recent session?
All three closed lower on 24 August 2026, as of the last trade at 20:00 GMT. Chevron finished at 203.09, down 1.06%. ExxonMobil closed at 164.05, down 0.64%. ConocoPhillips ended at 133.35, off 1.13%. The moves tracked a soft, technology-led session rather than any specific Venezuela news.
What would signal a real reopening of Venezuela's oil sector?
Three markers: a signed agreement with published terms between PDVSA and a major other than Chevron; visible resolution of legacy claims and disputes tied to previously nationalised assets; and a material increase in Chevron's own export volumes to the United States, which would suggest operating and payment conditions are genuinely improving.
Sources
Photo: Wolfgang Weiser · Pexels Licence — source
