Return to Venezuela! ExxonMobil (XOM.US) plans to sign a preliminary agreement, targeting a huge oil reserve of 50 billion barrels

According to Golden Ten Data, sources reveal that ExxonMobil (XOM.US) is set to sign a preliminary agreement to explore investments in several Venezuelan oil fields, which would mark the company's return to Venezuela nearly two decades after its exit from the country.

ExxonMobil may sign a memorandum of understanding as early as this month with the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA to explore an investment deal involving multiple developed and undeveloped oil fields, which together hold an estimated 50 billion barrels of oil.

Reportedly, the company is interested in regaining control of two major oil fields in the Orinoco Belt—Petrovictoria and Petromonagas—which were nationalized in the mid-2000s, as well as acquiring interests in two other oil fields in the nearby Carabobo region.

Venezuela claims its oil reserves total about 300 billion barrels, making it the country with the largest reserves globally.

Earlier this month, ExxonMobil’s competitor Chevron signed an agreement to invest 7 billion USD in Venezuela over five years through its local joint venture, with the goal of doubling output to 600,000 barrels per day; Continental Resources, owned by Harold Hamm, also signed a preliminary agreement on Wednesday to explore the development of an undeveloped oil field in Anzoátegui state.