Continental Resources signs MoU with PDVSA to develop Venezuela’s Ayacucho 2 Block, a 30-billion-barrel Orinoco Oil Belt asset
Continental Resources, the world’s largest privately held oil and gas producer, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA to operate and develop the Ayacucho 2 Block in the Orinoco Oil Belt.
The block sits north of the Orinoco River in Anzoátegui state and spans roughly 126,000 acres — with an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil in place.
Continental Resources and PDVSA sign development agreement for Ayacucho 2
The MoU makes the partnership official. Both companies plan to advance a long-term Contrato de Participación Productiva (CPP) in the coming weeks. Once that contract is signed, Continental holds a 100% working interest in the block — full operational control, no shared decision-making.
Continental Resources is headquartered in Oklahoma City and holds the title of the world’s largest privately held oil and natural gas producer.
Ayacucho 2 sits in Anzoátegui state, one of Venezuela’s core oil-producing regions. At 126,000 acres with 30 billion barrels of estimated resource in place, this is a significant bet. Continental brings private capital, technology, and large-scale operating capability to the table — the kind of combination Venezuela’s underdeveloped reserves have been waiting on for years.
Why Continental pursued the Venezuelan opportunity
This deal didn’t come out of nowhere. The Trump Administration publicly called on American energy companies to help rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry, and Continental took that seriously — launching its own independent evaluation of available opportunities in the country shortly after.
That evaluation found more than political encouragement. Venezuela’s revised hydrocarbon legal framework gave Continental a real legal pathway to pursue the deal. Without that regulatory foundation, the MoU likely wouldn’t have materialized.
Continental’s CEO Doug Lawler framed the move as a strategic priority. “We are excited to participate in the revitalization of Venezuela’s energy industry,” Lawler said, “bringing further economic strength to Venezuela and its people as well as global energy markets.” Founder and Chairman Emeritus Harold Hamm added that the deal takes Continental “to an entirely new level.”
Implications for Continental’s production outlook and portfolio
Continental calls Ayacucho 2 one of the most significant resource opportunities in its nearly 60-year history — not a small claim from a company that’s developed world-class assets across North America.
The block is expected to substantially expand Continental’s long-term development inventory. With a 100% working interest once the CPP is executed, every operational call belongs to Continental alone. No partners to coordinate with, no split decisions, no committee approvals slowing things down.
Continental also made clear this isn’t a one-time move. The company said it’ll keep evaluating additional opportunities in Venezuela, as well as in the U.S. and internationally. Ayacucho 2 looks less like a standalone deal and more like an opening position in a longer campaign.
Continental’s existing portfolio and international expansion context
Continental Resources is headquartered in Oklahoma City and holds the title of the world’s largest privately held oil and natural gas producer. Its U.S. footprint is substantial — a leading producer in the Bakken formation across North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, with strong positions in Oklahoma’s Anadarko Basin, Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, and the Permian Basin in Texas.
The company has been building its international presence steadily. It already operates in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale formation, one of the most active unconventional plays outside North America, and holds a joint platform to develop unconventional resources in Turkey’s Diyarbakir Basin. Venezuela’s Ayacucho 2 Block now joins that growing list.
The addition reflects a broader strategy at work. Continental isn’t content to stay within U.S. borders — it’s positioning itself as a global unconventional resource developer, applying the same technical playbook it refined at home to opportunities that other majors have passed over or walked away from.
A revised hydrocarbon legal framework
Here’s what the Ayacucho 2 MoU actually means. Continental Resources and PDVSA have agreed to work toward a formal long-term contract — the CPP — that gives Continental 100% operational control over a 126,000-acre block in Venezuela’s Orinoco Oil Belt, holding an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil in place.
The deal was triggered, at least in part, by the Trump Administration’s push for U.S. energy companies to re-engage with Venezuela. Continental’s independent evaluation, combined with a revised hydrocarbon legal framework, made the path forward viable.
For Continental, this is more than a single asset acquisition. The company calls it one of the most significant opportunities in its nearly six-decade history — one that expands its development inventory and adds another major asset to a portfolio already spanning the Bakken, Permian, Vaca Muerta, and Turkey. Further deals in Venezuela and elsewhere are reportedly under evaluation.
The CPP is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. When it is, Continental formally takes the wheel on one of the largest undeveloped oil resources in the Western Hemisphere.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
