U.S. billionaire's firm wins 30-billion-barrel Venezuela field

Continental Resources, the U.S. oil firm founded by billionaire Harold Hamm, has struck a deal to explore oil in Venezuela, according to Bloomberg. This marks the company's first foray into the South American country's market. The agreement centers on the Ayacucho 2 field, located in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt, a region known for its heavy crude reserves. The field spans approximately 126,000 acres and is estimated to contain 30 billion barrels of oil.

Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), had designated the Ayacucho 2 field for joint production operations more than 30 years ago, but no drilling had taken place. Continental Resources has now signed a memorandum of understanding with PDVSA and is expected to finalize a long-term agreement in the coming weeks.

The deal comes as part of a broader effort to boost oil production in Venezuela, following calls from the Trump administration for U.S. companies to help revive the country's oil sector. Continental Resources' CEO, Doug Lawler, expects oil production to commence within 18 months of signing the agreement.

Harold Hamm, a significant supporter of President Donald Trump, was among the first to advocate for horizontal drilling techniques to extract oil from shale rock, a method that contributed to the U.S. becoming the world's largest oil producer. The U.S. government has also negotiated for a 35% stake in Venezuelan entrepreneur Alejandro Betancourt's North American Blue Energy Partners, a privately held company granted 100-year deals in 17 Venezuelan oil fields.

Despite Betancourt's contentious reputation in Venezuela, the Trump administration has defended its partnership with him. Earlier in August, Trump claimed the U.S. had struck the "biggest oil deal in world history" with Venezuela, stating the deal gives the U.S. a controlling stake in over 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's proven oil reserves, more than doubling U.S. oil reserves.