GeoPark Has the Contract. It Does Not Have the Licence.
VENEZUELA · SANCTIONS
Key Facts
- —The company GeoPark signed its Bare Block contract with PDVSA on 4 September, confirmed by a Form 6-K filed the day before.
- —The control Grupo Gilinski takes roughly 56.3 percent of GeoPark through a share exchange, potentially rising to 58.4 percent.
- —The terms 42.1 million GeoPark shares at US$12.22 each, a 26 percent premium, for 95 percent of a holding company.
- —The output plan From about 11,000 barrels a day now toward a net plateau of 55,000 to 62,000, and 75,000 to 85,000 barrels of oil equivalent by 2030.
- —The licence No general licence names GeoPark. General Licence 52B covers only United States entities formed before 29 January 2025.
- —The company’s own wording Effectiveness is subject to applicable approvals, authorisations and sanctions-related compliance, with an estimated maximum period of 120 days.
Two companies entered Venezuelan heavy oil this month. One is named in an American licence. The other has 120 days to find out whether it needs one.
GeoPark’s entry into Venezuela is now formally documented, and the one thing the documentation does not contain is an American authorisation to operate there.
What Is Now on the Record
The deal leaked around 28 August, was confirmed by press release on 2 September, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 6-K on 3 September, and signed with PDVSA on 4 September.
The asset is the Bare Block, a heavy-oil field in the Orinoco Belt. Current production is around 11,000 barrels a day, with a stated peak potential of 85,000 to 95,000 and a net plateau to GeoPark of 55,000 to 62,000.
The 2030 combined target is 75,000 to 85,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, roughly 2.7 times current output. Those figures belong to this transaction and are separate from GeoPark’s earlier 2026 to 2028 growth plan, which predates the Venezuela entry.
The Control Change
Grupo Gilinski, through Colden Investments, receives 42.1 million GeoPark shares at US$12.22 each, a 26 percent premium, in exchange for a 95 percent stake in the holding company behind the asset.
That takes the Gilinski position to roughly 56.3 percent, potentially 58.4 percent. The group had already built to 28 percent through open-market purchases between 23 March and 14 April 2026.
Colombia’s wealthiest family therefore takes control of a Nasdaq-listed oil producer by paying in that producer’s own shares, and the asset acquired sits in Venezuela.
The Sanctions Position
No general licence names GeoPark. General Licence 52B, which is sometimes cited in this context, covers only United States entities formed before 29 January 2025.
As of the most recent update no OFAC authorisation permitting GeoPark to operate in Venezuela has appeared on the public record.
GeoPark’s own filing language acknowledges the gap. Effectiveness is stated as subject to applicable approvals, authorisations, regulatory requirements and sanctions-related compliance requirements, with an estimated maximum period of 120 days.
That is a company telling its shareholders it has signed a contract whose execution depends on a permission it does not yet hold.
The Comparison That Matters
Chevron announced a US$7 billion Venezuelan expansion on 2 September, two days before GeoPark signed. Chevron is named in General Licence 50A, issued 18 February 2026, whose current text the Federal Register published on 11 September.
The two transactions are being reported together as a Venezuela opening. Legally they are not the same thing at all.
One company is operating inside a written authorisation with defined conditions and a reporting obligation. The other is operating on the expectation that the political environment will produce one.
The Rio Times has applied this correction repeatedly as the GeoPark story has recirculated, and applies it again here.
More: Venezuela news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did GeoPark sign?
A contract with PDVSA for the Bare Block in the Orinoco Belt, signed 4 September 2026 and filed on Form 6-K on 3 September.
Who now controls GeoPark?
Grupo Gilinski, at roughly 56.3 percent, potentially rising to 58.4 percent, through a share exchange.
Does GeoPark have an OFAC licence?
No. No general licence names GeoPark, and none authorising its operations has appeared on the public record.
What does GeoPark say about that?
Its filing states effectiveness is subject to approvals, authorisations and sanctions compliance, with an estimated maximum period of 120 days.
How is this different from Chevron?
Chevron is named in General Licence 50A. GeoPark is not named in any licence.
Sources: SEC, GeoPark, Bloomberg, BNamericas, Federal Register.
This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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