Italy’s Eni doubles down in Venezuela with rising hope of recovering debt

MILAN, September 4 - Eni, Italy's oil giant, has strengthened its position in recovering over $2.3 billion owed by Venezuela through a new oil project agreement. After decades of involvement in Venezuela, Eni holds significant debt from the state-owned oil group PDVSA. As the U.S. and Venezuela work to reinvigorate the country's oil sector, Eni remains committed despite political turmoil, economic instability, and U.S. sanctions.

This decision has started to pay off as Eni signed an agreement with PDVSA to develop the Junin 5 heavy oil project in the Orinoco Belt. Under the deal, Eni will assume a 25-year production-sharing agreement, with the project expected to increase production from 12,000 barrels per day to 400,000 barrels per day by 2030. Eni and PDVSA plan to invest $1.5 billion annually in the project, which could help recover existing receivables and boost the country's oil industry.