Italy-based Eni (E) is finalizing new contracts for its Venezuelan oil and gas projects, with plans for rapid production growth at the Junin-5 field, company chief said during earnings call on Wednesday.
Eni is at the final stage of negotiations for oil assets like Junin-5 and Corocoro, and has finalized a gas export agreement for the giant Perla field.
"So, up to now, Venezuela is responding very well," Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi said. "Clearly, we are going to negotiate a contract that allows us to make investments."
Collective Venezuelan operations unlock a growth potential of over 5.5 billion barrels of recoverable resources, according to the transcript available on FactSet.
On the gas side, PDVSA is honoring sustainability agreements regarding Cardon IV cargo payments, and the plan of development for Perla gas exports is imminent, it stated.
On the oil side, Descalzi noted that Eni aims to sign a production sharing contract rather than a joint venture for Junin-5, leveraging existing spare facility capacity to mobilize rigs quickly and ramp up production from its current 12,000 barrels per day to a plateau level of 200,000 bbl/d.