Continental Resources Signs MOU With PDVSA to Develop Venezuela's Ayacucho 2 Block

Continental Resources has signed a memorandum of understanding with Venezuela's state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), to operate and develop the Ayacucho 2 Block in the Orinoco Oil Belt, according to a company statement carried by PR Newswire and confirmed in CNBC reporting. The MOU, dated September 16, 2026, covers a 126,000-acre block north of the Orinoco River in Anzoátegui state that the company says holds an estimated 30 billion barrels of resource in place.

What the MOU Actually Says

Per the company's own release, Continental would operate the block with a 100% working interest once a definitive long-term agreement, known in Venezuela as a Contrato de Participación Productiva (CPP), is executed. The parties intend to advance that CPP "in the coming weeks," according to the release, a timeline CNBC also reported. Neither the release nor CNBC's report disclosed a capital commitment, a production target, a drilling timeline or any PDVSA equity share in the operating interest. Bottom line: as announced, this is a preliminary framework rather than a binding development contract — an interpretation tied to the fact that the MOU, on the company's own description, still requires a CPP and carries no disclosed spending or output terms.