GreenergyDaily

Aug. 25, 2025

China Concord Resources Corp has begun developing two Venezuelan oilfields, planning to invest more than $1 billion in a project to produce 60,000 barrels per day of crude oil by end-2026, an executive directly involved in the project said.

The project marks a rare investment by a private Chinese firm in the OPEC country, which has struggled to attract foreign capital due to international sanctions on the administration of President Nicolas Maduro. The investment figure and the production plan are being reported for the first time.

Chinese state oil giant CNPC was among the largest investors in Venezuela's oil sector before U.S. energy sanctions were first imposed on Venezuela in 2019. China was also a big lender to Venezuela.

Early last year, CCRC began negotiating its participation in the two oilfields - Lago Cinco and Lagunillas Lago - and signed in May 2024 a 20-year production sharing contract with Venezuela, said the executive, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

With no previous oil drilling experience, CCRC has since last September sent in around 60 Chinese staff skilled in oilfield development and a Chinese drill rig, aiming to quickly reopen about 100 wells and recover crude output, said the executive.

Production at the two fields, largely mothballed in recent years due to lack of investment and technical expertise, is now running at 12,000 bpd, said the executive.

CCRC aims to develop a total of 500 wells and raise output to up to 60,000 bpd by the end of 2026, he said, adding that it's a mix of light and heavy oil, with light crude to be delivered to PDVSA and heavier crude destined for China.