Chevron flies from Caracas to Curaçao as airspace warnings persist

Chevron flew from Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas to Hato International Airport on Curaçao on May 25, a short 25-minute hop across the Caribbean Sea. The flight arrives the same week the company continues to charter personnel to its Venezuelan oil fields despite a United States Federal Aviation Administration advisory warning operators that air travel in the region may be unsafe due to military satellite interference, according to a Bloomberg report published in World Oil. Chevron has said it remains in full compliance with United States sanctions and laws while maintaining its joint ventures that pump roughly a quarter of Venezuela's output.

Chevron has been steadfast in its presence in the country, with Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth telling the Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit earlier this year that leaving Venezuela would mean leaving every country where the company has a disagreement with a government, per a TT News article. The company also finalized a confidential settlement in a Texas case over leaking wells on the Antina Ranch this week, as covered by the Houston Chronicle, avoiding a trial that could have set precedents on liability for aging wells.

The pattern of recent flights shows heavy use of Chevron's Boeing Business Jet for hops between Houston and locations in West Texas and the Permian Basin, suggesting the Curaçao routing may serve as a staging point for personnel transfers to the Venezuelan operations, given that most commercial air travel in and out of Venezuela has largely halted.