Episode summary
Chevron to Invest $7 Billion to Double Its Venezuelan Output | Bloomberg Intelligence
Bloomberg Intelligence
· · Hosts: Paul Sweeney, Scarlet Fu · Guests: Kevin Crowley, Lee Klaskow, Mandeep Singh, Woo Jin Ho
Summary
The episode focused first on Chevron’s planned $7 billion expansion in Venezuela, where the guest said the company wants to double production to about 600,000 barrels a day through joint ventures in two large Orinoco Belt fields. He argued the barrels will reach market only gradually because the projects are heavy-oil developments that need drilling, equipment and pipelines, and he said the deal is unlikely to quickly ease oil prices. He also said Chevron appears comfortable with the legal and arbitration protections built into the contracts, and that the investment could give other majors more confidence to follow.
The discussion then turned to higher energy prices and transportation. The analyst said trucking, rail and other freight businesses can pass through fuel costs, but volatility still hurts margins and consumers, while the recent rise in diesel and oil has helped push transport stocks higher. He argued tighter trucking capacity and new federal enforcement on driver standards are prolonging the rate upcycle and could keep freight pricing strong into 2027.
The final segments covered Uber and Nvidia. The guest said Uber’s 3,300 job cuts reflect pressure from autonomous-vehicle competition and a need to redirect spending, while Nvidia’s reported interest in Hugging Face signals an effort to move beyond chips and own more of the AI stack. Dell’s raised outlook was presented as another sign that AI server demand, memory inflation and scale are driving earnings power.
Key takeaways
- Chevron plans to spend about $7 billion to lift Venezuelan output toward 600,000 barrels a day, but the guest said the increase will come gradually.
- The guest said Chevron’s Venezuela contracts appear to include strong legal and arbitration protections, which may reassure other oil majors.
- The analyst said higher fuel prices squeeze trucking, rail and air freight margins, but fuel surcharges help offset part of the hit.
- Lee Klaskow said tighter trucking supply and federal enforcement on driver standards could keep freight rates elevated well into 2027.
- Mandeep Singh said Uber’s layoffs reflect rising autonomous-vehicle pressure and a push to fund robotaxi investments instead of buybacks.
- Woo Jin Ho said Dell’s raised revenue outlook reflects AI servers, storage strength and the ability to pass through memory inflation.
Notable quotes
“these barrels are going to are going to come to the market kind of gradually. And what's what's interesting here is is that they are they are not going to be a direct replacement”
“The problem is the volatility in fuel prices can [snorts] be sometimes a drag on margins, especially when uh prices for fuel are rising quickly”
“it is a big threat. I mean the thing that's saved the likes of Uber so far is it's still a very small fraction of the overall rides”
“I would have expected a Microsoft looking to buy a hugging face, you know, or or somebody that is operating in that layer”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10 a.m. Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App.
Listen on demand wherever you get your podcast or watch us live on YouTube. All right, US uh energy secretary Chris Wright is in Caracus today and is expected to announce more than a dozen agreements with energy companies. The largest is with Chevron, which is significantly expanding in Venezuela operations with two giant oil fields in the Oriano Orinino boat.
We check in with Kevin Crowley. He's the senior oil reporter for Bloomberg News. Uh he is based down there in the energy capital, Houston, Texas.
Uh Kevin, thanks so much for joining us here. you know, when you talk to folks in your sphere there of the energy business, what do they think about this Chevron deal?
Well, first of all, it's a big it's a big it's a big deal. Um, I think the uh the first question is is how much oil is going to come to the market um immediately. And I think um I think it's it's it's it's going to come gradually.
Um this is what what the CEO um Mike Worth told us um in a in a TV interview um earlier earlier today. So, so Chevron is is planning to double its uh oil production to about 600,000 barrels a day. Going to spend about $7 billion uh with its joint venture partners doing that.
Um but these are these are big big big projects um requiring lots of drilling, lots of heavy equipment, lots of pipeline capacity. Um um Venezuela has a lot of heavy oil which is difficult to process. So um these um these barrels are going to are going to come to the market kind of gradually.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- chevron venezuela investment
- oil prices and geopolitics
- tech cost cuts uber
- ai capex nvidia
- dell ai server demand
Companies and tickers mentioned
- CVX
- UBER
- NVDA
- DELL
- Chevron
- Uber Technologies
- Nvidia
- Hugging Face
- Dell Technologies
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from Bloomberg Intelligence
-
Anthropic’s IPO Is Said to Be About Six Times Oversubscribed | Bloomberg Intelligence -
Instant Reaction: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Ousted by Nvidia Board | Bloomberg Intelligence -
Nvidia’s Huang Ousted by Board in Move That Roils AI Economy | Bloomberg Intelligence -
CoreWeave Shares Soar After AI Computing Firm Eases Debt Fears | Bloomberg Intelligence -
Anthropic Targets $1.4 Trillion Valuation in Blockbuster IPO | Bloomberg Intelligence -
Nvidia Probe Into CEO Affair Raises Thorny Questions for AI | Bloomberg Intelligence
Bloomberg Intelligence, this episode and its artwork belong to Bloomberg. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
