Venezuela Stops Taking US Deportees After Trump Orders Chevron Out

Energy News Beat

ENB Pub Note: We kind of need the Canadian heavy oil sands more now – just saying.

In 2023, Chevron’s joint ventures with Venezuela’s state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), were producing approximately 135,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to independent estimates and shipping data. This figure marked a significant increase from 2022 levels, contributing to a roughly 70% rise in output from Chevron’s projects that year.

By February 2025, posts on X and reports indicated that Chevron was producing around 220,000 to 235,000 bpd in Venezuela, though these numbers come from social media sentiment and should be treated as inconclusive without further verification. Official sources, such as Reuters, reported that Chevron’s exports from its joint ventures in February 2025 were at 252,000 bpd, down from 294,000 bpd in January 2025, suggesting that production levels were likely in that range or slightly lower, accounting for export variations.

Chevron’s production targets aimed higher, with plans to reach 250,000 bpd by the end of 2025, as noted in a World Oil report from March 2024, which stated a 35% increase from earlier levels was anticipated. Earlier, in 2023, Chevron had ambitions to hit 200,000 bpd by the end of 2024, a goal supported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s forecast, which expected Chevron’s output to reach that mark based on sanctions relief and operational expansions.

Given these points, Chevron’s production for Venezuela likely ranged between 135,000 bpd in 2023 and approximately 220,000 to 250,000 bpd in early 2025, with fluctuations due to operational, logistical, and political factors. The exact figure depends on the specific month in question, but without real-time data beyond early March 2025, a precise number for today—March 11, 2025—cannot be confirmed. Note that this production was not “for Venezuela” in the sense of being donated; rather, it was extracted in partnership with PDVSA under a U.S. license, primarily to recoup debts owed to Chevron, with exports largely directed to the U.S. market.

(Bloomberg) Venezuela will stop receiving deportees from the US in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke Chevron Corp’s license to operate in the South American country.

Venezuela’s ruling party secretary, Diosdado Cabello, confirmed Monday that Nicolás Maduro had ordered direct repatriation flights from the US be halted. The Andean nation will still receive migrants back from other countries, starting with a group from Bolivia, Cabello said on state television.

Maduro’s officials privately warned the Trump administration they would halt the flights after the US gave Chevron 30 days to wind down operations, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing unnamed sources.

The US is also preparing to revoke waivers allowing other foreign oil companies to operate in the country. Maduro’s suspension of flights could potentially trigger even more aggressive measures from the Trump administration.

“With what they did, they have damaged the communications that we had opened,” Maduro said on Saturday, referring to the revoked Chevron license. “I wanted to bring back all the Venezuelans who are imprisoned and unjustly persecuted just for being migrants, and that affected the flights we had already programmed.”

In early 2024, Maduro suspended direct deportation flights after former President Joe Biden threatened to reimpose oil sanctions in response to the Venezuelan leader’s failure to follow through on democratic commitments. The flights resumed in February after Trump’s special envoy, Ric Grenell, visited Caracas and secured the release of six US citizens from Venezuelan prisons.

In total, three flights arrived in Venezuela that month, carrying around 370 passengers either directly from the US or from its naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Maduro’s government said the US administration had told them that roughly 5,000 migrants could be subject to deportation.

Source: Bloomberg and Grok on X

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