Venezuela is preparing to grant additional oil exploration and production blocks to Chevron Corp. and Spain’s Repsol SA this week, Bloomberg reports.

The move reflects a broader shift in U.S. policy toward the South American country’s energy sector as Washington urges private companies to help rebuild production.

The potential award of new drilling territory comes amid evolving U.S. sanctions policy that, in recent weeks, has softened restrictions on oil and gas cooperation with Caracas.

In early February, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 46A, which authorizes certain activities involving Venezuelan-origin oil for long-established U.S. companies, clearing the way for expanded exploration and production involvement without violating U.S. sanctions.

Officials in Caracas are reportedly poised to award these additional blocks as soon as this week, a key element of U.S. President Donald Trump’s strategy to revive Venezuela’s dilapidated energy sector and reduce Beijing and Moscow’s influence in the country’s oil industry.

During a recent visit to Venezuela’s oil-rich Orinoco Belt, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright underscored the scale of opportunity he sees in closer cooperation between U.S. companies and Venezuelan resources.

“The reuniting of the talent of American businesses and the passion of the Venezuelan people and the resources here — the sky’s the limit,” Wright told reporters.

Chevron and Repsol have longstanding ties to Venezuela’s energy sector.

Chevron is currently the only major Western oil company still actively pumping crude in the country under special U.S. authorization, and it accounts for a significant portion of Venezuela’s limited output.

Repsol holds interests in blocks tied to gas production, including the Cardón IV project offshore with partner Eni SpA, which supplies gas to Venezuelan power plants.

The Venezuelan oil industry — once among the globe’s most prolific — has been in steep decline over the past decade. Mismanagement, corruption and neglect combined with stringent U.S. sanctions dramatically reduced output to about 1 million barrels per day, less than one-third of its level in the 1990s.

Repsol declined to comment on the latest developments, and Chevron did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Trump administration is also expected to issue a broader general license allowing international oil companies to explore and produce in Venezuela without violating sanctions, according to earlier reporting.

That would follow a series of authorizations from the Treasury Department aimed at selectively opening up the country’s oil sector — most of which has been constrained under longstanding Venezuela-related sanctions.

In practical terms, granting more blocks to Chevron and Repsol could boost Venezuela’s crippled output and signal confidence to other international players considering re-entry once regulatory and sanctions frameworks are settled.

It also highlights how the Trump administration is threading a diplomatic needle — expanding commercial opportunities while maintaining pressure on Caracas over broader policy concerns.