Kevin Crowley – 12/03/2025 | 04:36 PM
The American industry giant has been seeking alternative supplier countries for its refineries after the Trump administration ordered the company to cease operations in Venezuela.
Bloomberg — Chevron is looking to replace Venezuelan oil in its refineries with supplies from Mexico, Brazil, and the Middle East after the Trump administration ordered the company to cease operations in the South American country.
The American industry giant mainly uses heavy Venezuelan crude oil at its Pascagoula refinery in Mississippi and will seek an alternative raw material as soon as the shutdown period ends, in about a month, said Andy Walz, Chevron’s president for downstream, midstream, and chemicals, in an interview with Bloomberg News at the CERAWeek conference by S&P Global in Houston.
“We would be looking for a major replacement, for the most part,” said Walz behind the scenes of the event on Wednesday (12). “It could come from Latin America, the Middle East, and potentially Mexico, depending on what happens with tariffs.”
The plan by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to impose tariffs on Mexican and Canadian oil further complicates refineries’ efforts to replace Venezuelan oil with similar characteristics.
Chevron will analyse a range of crude oils worldwide to determine which is the most attractive, said Walz.
Brazil and the Partitioned Zone shared by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where Chevron also operates, are viable options, he added.
“Venezuela was sanctioned for several years under the previous government, and we sought oil elsewhere,” said Walz. “We will follow the rules.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control revoked Chevron’s licence to produce oil in Venezuela at the beginning of this month, giving them a 30-day deadline to cease operations.
Chevron mainly shipped these supplies to the Gulf Coast of the USA, where refineries are optimised to operate with heavy crude oil.
Source: Bloomberg L.P. / Br8
