Reuters is reporting that according to three sources, Chevron may be granted approval as soon as this weekend to significantly boost oil production in Venezuela, if the government of Nicholas Maduro is willing to reopen talks with opposition figures.

This proposal would entail an official easing of sanctions on Venezuela as the United States seeks to boost oil production to ease skyrocketing energy costs.

Presently talks are scheduled to begin over the weekend between Maduro’s government and opposition figures, with US observation.

The Biden administration is turning to Venezuela as a final option to try and increase oil production. American shale producers have refused to invest in production, mostly out of fear of investing in production now only to see prices plunge as production comes online due to the global economy entering a recession. OPEC+ has refused all calls to increase production, instead reducing production at their last meeting by 2 million barrels per day through the end of the year. The only remaining options, lifting sanctions on Russia or Iran have been deemed political non-starters.

Home to the most massive oil reserves in the world, Venezuela’s reserves come in at 303 billion barrels. However as the regime of Hugo Chavez began nationalizing oil companies, most were driven out and their equipment began to deteriorate, as US sanctions all but finished destroying the oil industry in the nation.

By September of this year, the state-run PDVSA oil company had produced 666,000 barrels per day. Before the regime of Hugo Chavez, it produced roughly 3.5 million barrels per day. Analysts note all it would take to return Venezuela to that production level is the return of the oil supermajors, and Chevron is the only supermajor remaining in the country,

Chevron has had four joint ventures with PDVSA which it has been seeking permission from Washington to take control of. The US has been delaying the authorization, in hopes it would be able to overthrow anti-American and socialist Maduro, who won a controversial re-election in 2018.