—For months, Biden administration officials snubbed top executives and lobbyists for Chevron Corp. who had pressed officials in Washington to ease sanctions so the company could boost production in Venezuela, where the U.S. has banned such activities since 2019. Then Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine. Now the Biden administration is listening closely to Chevron, say people familiar with the conversations, which says it can help double Venezuela’s 800,000 barrels-a-day production within months. That could replace the loss of roughly 700,000 barrels a day the U.S. was importing from Russia before it attacked Ukraine . And it could help lower gasoline prices—a major concern for the Biden administration in a tough election year . “Chevron came in November, they pitched it around, but got laughed out of town,” said Juan Cruz, a former National Security […]