U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sept. 1 from Venezuela that he expects the country’s oil production to more than double under new agreements with foreign oil companies.

Wright posted on X that he had arrived in Caracas on a state visit for “advancing new energy deals” and “strengthening energy security” across the hemisphere.

“Several deals that will be announced tomorrow—just those deals will lead to a more than doubling of Venezuelan oil production in the next few years,” he told reporters in Venezuela.

Wright said that the increase in output would help lower oil prices and that the Trump administration is also working to enhance refining capacity to bring down gasoline prices.

“The investment in these deals will massively grow oil production, which will give downward pressure on oil prices. But the biggest kink right now in gasoline and diesel prices is refining capacity,” he said. “I think we'll see some downward pressure coming in the next few weeks.”

Exxon Mobil and Chevron are among the companies planning to do business in Venezuela, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sept. 1.

“We have Exxon going in, we have Chevron going in, we have our big oil companies going in, and everybody’s bidding,” Trump told reporters.

Chevron already operates in Venezuela and was the only major U.S. oil company to remain there after then-leader of Venezuela Hugo Chávez forced foreign firms into state-majority partnerships in 2007. The company plans to expand its operations.

The White House on Aug. 31 released details about an agreement that would give the United States access to 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s oil reserves.

The deal was negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez through a partnership with private businesses, according to Trump’s Aug. 28 post.

Under the deal, Venezuela’s interim government has granted North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) 100-year concessions for 17 oil fields holding roughly 65 billion barrels in proven reserves. NABEP is a privately held oil company and Venezuela’s second-largest private oil producer.

NABEP has also granted the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital a 35 percent equity stake in its corporate parent, and the U.S. State Department has the right to buy 20 percent of the output from all current and future fields operated by NABEP at production cost.

Earlier this year, the U.S. government issued a general license allowing U.S. citizens to conduct specific oil and gas-related transactions with Caracas. This came after the capture of then-leader of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro in a Jan. 3 raid to face criminal narco-terrorism and drug-trafficking charges in the United States.

Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at 303 billion barrels. However, oil production declined under the Maduro regime because of mismanagement and underinvestment.

Owen Evans contributed to this report.