ROME, April 29, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Italian energy giant Eni will relaunch activity at a heavy crude project in the Orinoco Belt following an agreement with Venezuela's oil ministry and state-run oil company PDVSA.

"Eni signed a programmatic agreement with the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and PDVSA to relaunch oil activities, specifically Junin-5 (PDVSA 60%, Eni 40%) in the Orinoco Belt, a heavy oil field containing 35 billion barrels of certified oil," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The announcement comes as Venezuela seeks to boost private investment in the oil sector.

Venezuela's vast oil reserves could face a new bonanza after the United States captured the country's socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro in January in a lightning military operation on Caracas.

The new authorities, led by interim president Delcy Rodriguez, have cooperated with US President Donald Trump's administration and introduced reforms to liberalise the energt sector.

Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi met with Rodriguez in Caracas on Tuesday, the statement said.

The possibility of increased Venezuelan oil output comes as global markets face disruptions to Middle East oil supplies from the conflict in Iran which have driven up oil prices.