PDVSA

Under the agreement with PDVSA, Eni will oversee the field's technical, financial, and commercial management. Separately, independent energy company GeoPark has announced its strategic entry into Venezuela through the Bare Block, a large-scale heavy-oil-producing asset.

Since the US arrested and removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on 3 January 2026, all eyes have turned toward the country’s vast oil reserves, the largest of any country. From 2005 to 2024, oil production in Venezuela fell by 70%, from 3.1 million B/D to just 0.9 million B/D. The race is on to bring production back, but aging infrastructure and expatriation pre…

An asset swap with PDVSA helps consolidate the supermajor’s heavy-oil operations in the country.

US sanctions appear to have prompted a change in ownership. It is unclear how the new arrangement will impact Venezuela’s diminishing ability to export crude oil.

Take a quick look at some of the data points shaping upstream headlines and the movement of oil supplies around the world.

A fluid technology has been developed to deposit a thin, impermeable barrier over the pores and microfractures of weak, underpressured, and otherwise troublesome formations to maintain wellbore stability and reduce formation damage.