Continental Resources on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Venezuela’s national oil company to develop a large oil field in the South American country.
Continental said in a statement that it plans to develop and operate the Orinoco Belt region, which spans 126,000 acres and holds an estimated 30 billion barrels of reserves. The resource-rich Orinoco belt contains most of Venezuela’s 303 billion barrels of reserves.
Continental plans to advance the MOU into a long-term agreement with Venezuelan Petroleum in the coming weeks. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Continental is one of the world’s largest privately held oil and natural gas producers.
The agreement comes eight months after the Trump administration ousted former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military raid. President Donald Trump has called on U.S. oil companies to help develop Venezuela’s vast reserves, but most publicly traded oil majors have balked.
Continental founder Harold Hamm is a Trump supporter and donor. Hamm donated more than $1 million to the political action committee Make America Great Again from 2023 to 2024, according to nonpartisan Open Secrets data.
(L/R) Continental Resources Chairman Harold Hamm shakes hands with PDVSA Executive Vice President Giovani Martinez after signing the agreement on the third day of the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Abundance on September 16, 2026 in Houston, Texas.
Ronaldo Shemit | AFP | Getty Images
Continental announced it had conducted an “independent opportunity assessment” in Venezuela after President Trump called on U.S. energy companies to invest in the country. Changes in the laws regulating Venezuela’s oil industry were instrumental in Continental’s investment decision, the company said.
Trade in Venezuela’s oil region has accelerated in recent weeks. President Trump said last month that the United States had secured majority control over Venezuela’s more than 65 billion barrels of oil reserves.
The Venezuelan government granted concessions to an unknown private oil company, North American Blue Energy Partners, to develop these reserves. In return, NABEP granted the U.S. government 35% ownership with a guaranteed supply of crude oil production.
and chevron plans to more than double Venezuela’s production by 2031 through a $7 billion investment and expansion into two additional fields.
