Chevron, Eni and other foreign energy companies have committed to major project expansions in Venezuela aimed at increasing oil production.

Axar.az reports, citing Investing, that the agreements were signed in Caracas in a ceremony attended by interim President Delcy Rodriguez and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The deals are separate from a recent Caracas-Washington agreement giving the US access to 17 Venezuelan oilfields.

Chevron plans to invest more than $7 billion over five years to double its Venezuelan output to about 600,000 barrels per day. Eni will invest $1.5 billion in the Junin 5 heavy-oil project in the Orinoco Belt under a new 25-year production-sharing contract.

Junin 5 currently produces approximately 12,000 bpd, Eni said in the release. Oil production target from all its oil projects is 400,000 bpd by the end of this decade.

Venezuela currently produces about 1.25 million barrels per day, well below its peak of 3 million barrels per day in the late 1990s.

Wright said the US was seeking to transform Venezuela’s oil industry at “Trump-speed” as part of a broader $100 billion investment plan.

"We are trying to work at what I call Trump-speed. President (Donald) Trump didn’t want a nudge or a slow drift in a positive direction. He wanted to see as fast as possible transformation in Venezuela," Wright said.

Other pacts include an oilfield development agreement with energy firm Primavera and an exploration agreement with Denver-based oil services company Aspect Holdings.

It should be noted that last week, US President Donald Trump announced that an agreement had been reached with Venezuela under which more than 65 billion barrels of the country’s proven oil reserves would come under US control.