A goal of 200,000 barrels per day by 2028: Italian ENI launches production in a huge heavy oil field in Venezuela

Italian energy company ENI announced on Wednesday the launch of its operations in the massive Junín 5 field in Venezuela, almost two months after the Venezuelan interim government signed new oil deals with multinationals with the backing of the United States. ENI in September obtained exclusive rights to exploit the Junín 5 heavy crude oil field, located in the Orinoco oil belt in central Venezuela, through a contract signed with the administration of interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who took power after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by US forces in January. Rehabilitation of abandoned wells The signing of the contract coincided with an unprecedented pact between Caracas and Washington which grants the United States control of 20% of Venezuela's gigantic oil reserves.

“ENI announces the start of operations on the super-giant Junín 5 field in Venezuela,” the oil company said in a statement released Wednesday. The multinational specified that its plan envisages the “rehabilitation of abandoned wells and an intensive campaign of drilling new wells”. The goal is to reach a production of 200.

000 barrels per day by 2028 in this field, which has reserves estimated at 35 billion barrels, ENI said. Delcy Rodríguez promoted, under pressure from the United States, an oil reform that opened the sector to private capital, particularly foreign capital. The public company Pétroles du Venezuela (Pdvsa) claims to have signed 61 agreements with private players since the fall of Maduro in January.

Among them is the agreement with the United States, which will be operated by the private company North American Blue Energy Partners (Nabep). Washington holds a 30% stake in this oil company, the second largest private company in Venezuela. US President Donald Trump led a ceremony the day before in which he welcomed a ship carrying a million barrels, the first shipment resulting from this agreement.

“Thanks to our renewed relationship with Venezuela, which has proven to be truly excellent, oil is coming to the United States at NO cost to the American taxpayer,” Mr. Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “This is only the first shipment of BILLIONS of barrels to come,” he concluded.

Machine-translated from French