GeoPark Activates 25-Year Bare Contract and Funds All Approved Capital Expenditure
Key Facts
GeoPark announced on November 2, 2026, that the 25-year production-sharing contract for the Bare block in Venezuela had taken effect, alongside completion of the share issuance transaction linked to the Gilinski Group. This marks the agreement’s transition from satisfying conditions to becoming effective, after the company had targeted completion before the end of the fourth quarter of 2026. Under the contract, GeoPark will operate the block and fund all capital expenditure under approved work programs in exchange for a 65% net participating interest. The company will also have direct oil marketing rights and access to existing infrastructure. The company said the contract took effect before the 120-day contractual deadline expired.
The conditions were completed after the company worked with PDVSA on contractual, regulatory and technical requirements, while earlier steps included approvals, the final development plan and supplementary agreements with the Venezuelan entity. In its previous operational update, GeoPark said field assessments had progressed, alongside planning to reactivate wells and reviewing facilities and infrastructure. This work lays the groundwork for taking over and operating the asset, while the company said its operational transition would initially focus on safety and discipline. Its statement quoted the CEO as saying, "Our focus now shifts entirely to operational execution, beginning with a safe and orderly handover." He added that the company aims to stabilize production and gradually restart existing capacity.
Bare is an existing heavy oil asset in the Orinoco Belt, which GeoPark described as an opportunity to redevelop a field with a long operating history, prior production and installed infrastructure. In announcing its entry into Venezuela, the company estimated the field’s current gross production at about 11,000 barrels per day, with about 1,100 existing wells. It also said cumulative historical production exceeded 700 million barrels and that the field had previously reached levels above 100,000 barrels per day. The redevelopment plan is based on an existing producing asset, with wells to be reactivated and facilities reviewed, rather than building an operating system from scratch. The company estimates that its plan could deliver about 400 million barrels of cumulative net production to it and raise the recovery factor from 4–5% to a range of 8–9%.
Venezuela is part of GeoPark’s expansion as its combined oil and gas production reached 27,973 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter of 2026, up 2.6% from 27,271 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the second quarter. In its earlier announcement, the company said the addition of Bare, alongside production growth at the Vaca Muerta field, could lift its output to 75–85 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030, or about 2.7 times current levels. These are target figures tied to the redevelopment plan and asset growth; the contract has now taken effect, while the operational handover remains a subsequent step. GeoPark expects to begin financial consolidation of the Bare assets when it obtains operational control of the block. The company’s shares closed at $10.88 on October 30, 2026, compared with a $10.82 close in the previous session.