Chevron Steers Risky Path to Oil’s Biggest Prize in Venezuela

For almost two decades, oil giant Chevron Corp.’s stubborn persistence in Venezuela looked like folly: with billion-dollar investments constantly under threat from the tug-of-war between Caracas and Washington DC.

Now, however, that strategy has placed the world’s biggest petroleum prize within Chevron’s reach.

As tensions mount between Venezuela and the US, Chevron remains the only global oil company with access to the country’s immense crude reserves — the largest known. Should US President Donald Trump, who has deployed a fleet of warships to the Venezuelan coast, attack and overthrow the government, no company would be better positioned to help rebuild the country’s battered oil industry. ...