Continental Resources Strikes 30 Billion-Barrel Venezuela Oil Deal With PDVSA
Updated
Updated · Fox Business · Sep 16
Continental Resources Strikes 30 Billion-Barrel Venezuela Oil Deal With PDVSA
3 articles · Updated · Fox Business · Sep 16
Summary
Continental said its memorandum with PDVSA gives it the right to operate and develop the 126,000-acre Ayacucho 2 Block in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt, with a long-term production agreement expected within weeks.
Once that agreement is executed, Continental expects to hold a 100% operating interest in a tract the company says contains an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil.
The company tied the move to the Trump administration's push for U.S. firms to help rebuild Venezuela's oil sector and to Caracas' changes to its hydrocarbons legal framework.
Venezuela offers huge reserves but weak output: the EIA says it held 303 billion barrels of proven crude reserves in 2023, yet produced just 742,000 barrels a day after a 70% decline from 2013.