Venezuela's state oil company signs a 25-year deal with Colombian firm

Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA signs a 25-year agreement Friday

with Colombia's Grupo Gilinski and oil producer GeoPark to operate the

Bare block in the Ayacucho field of the Orinoco Oil Belt.

This following a vote by the government that gives

United States secured access to some of Venezuela's massive oil

reserves.

The Bare block is one of seven in the Ayacucho field. It contains an estimated

15.7 billion barrels of original oil in place, while the wider Orinoco Oil Belt

holds the world's largest crude reserves.

The agreement follows a January reform of Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Law

that significantly reduced state control over oil operations and opened the

sector more broadly to foreign investment.

The reform came as the US Treasury began easing sanctions on Venezuela's

oil industry and expanded the ability of US energy companies to operate in

the country.