Weekly Rig Report: Baker Hughes Flat at 588, WellDatabase at 601 After a North Dakota Reclass, Enverus Still Running Higher

The three major U.S. rig tallies are telling the same structural story and three different weekly headlines. Baker Hughes held unchanged at 588 for a second straight week. WellDatabase printed 601, down 30 week over week but up 23 year over year. Enverus’s GPS-based daily count continues to run well above both weekly censuses, last […]

Continue Reading

Mike Wirth framed Chevron’s new $7 billion Venezuela commitment as a “win-win-win” during a Bloomberg Television interview from Caracas: better heavy crude for U.S. Gulf Coast refiners, stronger energy security, and fresh investment and jobs for Venezuela.

The September 2, 2026 sit-down with Tyler Kendall came the same day Chevron announced updated joint-venture agreements with PDVSA. The company will invest more than $7 billion over five years across three existing ventures, add acreage in the Orinoco Belt’s Carabobo area, and target more than 600,000 barrels per day of production—more than triple the […]

Continue Reading

Chevron, Eni, and a broader group of firms signed energy agreements in Caracas on September 2, 2026, with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez present.

The pacts target higher crude output from existing and new acreage under Venezuela’s reformed hydrocarbons law, separate from the larger U.S.-backed North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) arrangement announced days earlier by President Trump. Wright described the package as “tens of billions” in investments and a “transformation for Venezuela.” Rodríguez credited Trump administration efforts for […]

Continue Reading

The White House’s August 31, 2026 fact sheet details a landmark oil agreement that grants North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) 100-year concessions on 17 Venezuelan fields holding roughly 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.

The U.S. government receives a 35% equity stake in NABEP’s corporate parent via the Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital, a guaranteed right to buy 20% of offtake at production cost, and a right of first refusal on the remaining 80%. U.S. governance rights include veto power over board appointments, a requirement that a […]

Continue Reading

What Are the Next Steps for Venezuela’s Oil Production?

President Trump’s administration is in advanced talks with Venezuela’s interim government for what officials describe as a “massive” energy deal: a U.S. ownership stake or long-term lease covering 17 of the country’s most promising oil and gas fields holding about 90 billion barrels of proven reserves. That is nearly a third of Venezuela’s world-leading 300 […]

Continue Reading

Will Iraq leave OPEC, or will OPEC allow Iraq to double exports within six years?

Iraq is pushing aggressively to more than double its oil production capacity, targeting 8–10 million barrels per day (bpd) within six years—up from roughly 4 million bpd before the recent Iran-related regional conflict disrupted Strait of Hormuz shipping. On August 21, 2026, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced the goal at the Baghdad Dialog conference and […]

Continue Reading