Signed on September 2, the 25-year Hydrocarbon Production Participation Contract (CPPH), with an extension option, transfers Junín-5 from the Petrojunín joint-venture structure into a model under which Eni assumes exclusive operatorship and full technical, financial and commercial responsibility for the project. The agreement was the culmination of a process launched in April, when Eni and Venezuela established the initial terms for relaunching the field.

That distinction is significant for investors assessing Venezuela’s emerging project landscape. The CPPH framework was introduced following the January 2026 reform of the country’s Organic Hydrocarbons Law, which created production participation contracts that allow operators to undertake upstream activities without relying on the previous joint-venture structure with PDVSA.

Junín-5 illustrates the scale of assets being brought into this new framework. Located onshore in the Orinoco Belt, the heavy-oil field contains 35 billion barrels of certified oil in place and currently produces approximately 12,000 barrels per day. Eni had already outlined the scale of the opportunity in its March 2026 Capital Markets Update, identifying a pathway to develop Junín-5 toward plateau production of around 180,000 barrels per day and putting the field’s total recoverable resources at approximately 2 billion barrels. The September CPPH now gives Eni exclusive operatorship and responsibility for the technical, financial and commercial management required to pursue that development.

For Eni, Junín-5 also builds on an established operating footprint rather than representing a first entry into Venezuela. The company has been present in the country since 1998 and holds six licenses spanning the Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Paria and Orinoco region. In 2025, Eni’s equity hydrocarbon production in Venezuela averaged 64,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, predominantly from the Perla gas field.

Its Venezuelan portfolio already gives the company exposure across multiple parts of the energy value chain. Through Cardón IV, jointly owned with Repsol, Eni operates the Perla field, described by the company as the largest offshore gas field discovered in Latin America. Eni also holds a 26% stake in PetroSucre alongside PDVSA, which operates the offshore Corocoro oil field, as well as an interest in Supermetanol. The recent Sustainability Agreement at Perla is intended to support continued production, increase domestic gas supply and establish conditions for additional future exports.

The Junín-5 contract offers a window into the type of investment opportunities that could emerge as Venezuela seeks to restore production from mature, underdeveloped and resource-rich assets. For companies beyond the operator itself, that potential extends to drilling, oilfield services, heavy-oil production technologies, infrastructure, logistics, processing and associated gas and power requirements.

Momentum is already extending beyond Eni. In September, other international companies announced agreements covering Venezuelan oil, gas and energy infrastructure, while Halliburton subsequently signed memoranda with Eneva and WESCA focused on potential oil and gas development projects.

Against this backdrop, Junín-5 provides a concrete case study for investors evaluating Venezuela’s evolving upstream framework. At Venezuela Energy Week 2027, stakeholders will have an opportunity to examine what the Eni-PDVSA model means in practice, how new contractual structures can support capital deployment, and where the next investable opportunities could emerge across the Orinoco Belt and wider Venezuelan energy sector.