DistantNews
Support us
🇦🇷 Argentina /Energy & Infrastructure

Venezuela signs 25-year oil agreement with Colombia’s GeoPark

From Clarín · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Approved/passed
  • Venezuela’s interim government signed a 25-year agreement allowing Colombia’s GeoPark to operate the Bare heavy-crude field in the Orinoco Oil Belt.
  • The field currently produces about 11,000 barrels per day from roughly 1,100 existing wells, while its estimated potential is 85,000 to 95,000 barrels per day.
  • The agreement forms part of broader deals with foreign companies to increase Venezuelan oil production, which reached 1.2 million barrels per day in July.

Venezuela’s interim government has handed Colombian company GeoPark a 25-year agreement to operate the Bare heavy-crude field, making it the first Colombian oil company to directly run a block in Venezuelan territory.

The agreement was signed at the Miraflores Palace by Jovanny Martínez, executive vice president of state oil company PDVSA, and Jaime Gilinski, chairman of the Colombian Gilinski Group and GeoPark’s majority shareholder. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez attended the signing and welcomed the Colombian company’s entry into the recovery of Venezuela’s oil industry.

“I am very excited that a company from Colombia is also joining this plan to recover our oil industry and increase production for the benefit of the people,” Rodríguez said in remarks broadcast by state television channel VTV.

I am very excited that a company from Colombia is also joining this plan to recover our oil industry and increase production for the benefit of the people.

· Delcy RodríguezThe interim president welcomed GeoPark’s participation in Venezuela’s oil recovery plan.

The Bare field lies in Anzoátegui state, within the Orinoco Oil Belt, which contains much of Venezuela’s oil reserves. The Gilinski Group said the field has approximately 1,100 existing wells and current gross production of about 11,000 barrels per day. It estimated the field’s maximum potential at between 85,000 and 95,000 barrels per day.

GeoPark’s agreement follows larger deals signed this week with Chevron and Eni to expand their Venezuelan operations, as well as an agreement with GE Vernova to help restore the electricity industry. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright supervised those signings in Caracas after a deal reached on Aug. 28 that Venezuela said would give the United States access to exploit one-fifth of its oil reserves.

Venezuela’s oil output has risen almost 30% since January, when Nicolás Maduro was removed in a U.S. military operation. July production stood at 1.2 million barrels per day, still below the 3 million barrels per day produced in the late 1990s. Gilinski said GeoPark has the technical experience and financial strength to invest in and increase recovery at Bare.

GeoPark has proven technical experience to responsibly increase the recovery factor of the Bare field and the financial strength necessary to assume the entirety of the capital investment this project requires.

· Jaime GilinskiThe Gilinski Group chairman described GeoPark’s technical and financial capacity after signing the agreement.
About this summary

Originally published by Clarín in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog