Italian energy company Eni has resumed operations at Venezuela’s Junín-5 heavy oil field, less than two months after signing a new production agreement with the Venezuelan government, the company said on October 28.

The agreement, signed on September 2 in the presence of Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, followed a visit to Caracas by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Eni is the project’s sole operator, overseeing its technical, financial and commercial activities.

Located in Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt, Junín-5 holds an estimated 35 Bn barrels of certified oil in place. The initial development phase involves rehabilitating inactive wells and drilling new ones, with production targeted to reach 200,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) by 2028.

The plan also relies on existing infrastructure to limit development costs and accelerate implementation.

Eni said support from the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and state-owned oil company PDVSA had enabled the rapid launch of field activities. The project is central to the company’s plans to expand its upstream operations in Venezuela under the new contractual framework.

Eni also participates in Venezuela’s natural gas sector through Cardón IV, a joint venture equally owned by Eni and Spain’s Repsol.

The venture operates the Perla offshore field, described by Eni as Latin America’s largest offshore natural gas discovery. Cardón IV recently signed a sustainability agreement aimed at maintaining and increasing Perla’s output, supplying more natural gas to the domestic market and establishing conditions for potential future exports.

In addition, Eni holds a 26% stake in PetroSucre, in which PDVSA owns the remaining 74%. The joint venture operates the Corocoro offshore oil field. Eni also has an interest in Supermetanol, a petrochemical company producing methanol.

Eni has operated in Venezuela since 1998 and holds six hydrocarbon licences offshore in the Gulf of Venezuela and the Gulf of Paria, as well as onshore in the Orinoco region. Its share of Venezuelan hydrocarbon production averaged 64,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in 2025, mainly from the Perla natural gas field, which supplies about 35% of the country’s natural gas consumption.