MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Maduro says Chevron's departure will not hit Venezuela's oil production

“We will go forward, we will recover, we will grow, we will produce, and they will not touch the lives of the Venezuelan people,” Maduro claimed

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro insisted Thursday that his country’s oil production would drop “not even a liter” despite the U.S. ending Chevron’s license to export crude. Speaking on his weekly TV show, he pledged output would grow under his “Absolute Productive Independence” plan, despite US President Donald Trump's sanctions.

“Oil production will be maintained and will continue to grow,” the Chavista leader stressed. “We will go forward, we will recover, we will grow, we will produce, and they will not touch the lives of the Venezuelan people,” he added.

Washington gave Chevron 30 days to halt operations —down from the usual six months— following Maduro’s failure to meet electoral and deportation commitments. Chevron’s exit is a blow to Venezuela, where it helped boost oil output to over 1 million barrels per day in January 2025, the highest since June 2019.

Meanwhile, opposition leader María Corina Machado welcomed the White House's measures, arguing they cut off funds Maduro’s regime uses for repression, not public welfare. She claimed the government earned up to US$ 4.5 billion from Chevron’s operations last year, money spent on elite forces and lavish lifestyles for Maduro’s allies.

Speaking to the Financial Times by video call from a hiding place inside Venezuela, Machado mentioned that oil revenues “didn’t go to hospitals and schools, it was spent on repression.”

“The regime used the money that belonged to the Venezuelan people to fund repression against the Venezuelan people,” she also pointed out.

“Where did that money go?” Machado wondered. “To the elite repression forces who now have new vehicles, new weapons and new technology.”

“The new Trump administration now poses a much greater threat to the regime,” Machado further acknowledged.

Analysts from Ecoanalítica predict the loss could slow Venezuela’s economic growth from 3.2% to 2% this year, weaken the bolivar (Venezuela's currency), and fuel inflation, which hit 48% in 2024.

The former US administration of President Joseph Biden had granted Chevron’s license in 2022 to encourage fair elections. However, Maduro’s July 28, 2024, victory came amid fraud allegations as the opposition showed evidence that the Unitarian Democratic Platform's (PUD) Edmundo González Urrutia had prevailed despite announcements from the government-managed National Electoral Council (CNE).