GeoPark Ltd., based in Bogota, said the Gilinski family obtained the Bare Block rights - an asset in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt that produces heavy oil - and that GeoPark will operate it. Traders pounced early, lifting the stock up to a 12% gain Thursday before it slipped back to just under the $12.22 issue price later in the day.
This is a two-step handoff. GeoPark will first buy 5% of the company that holds the Bare contract. After that, it will acquire the Gilinskis' other 95% by issuing 42.1 million new GeoPark shares.
Those shares are priced at $12.22, which the company says is 26% above its 30-day average. If completed, Grupo Gilinski would end up with about 56.3% of GeoPark, effectively taking control.
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According to GeoPark, output at Bare is roughly 11,000 barrels per day today, with potential to reach up to 95,000 barrels per day. There is no effective date yet for the Production Participation Contract to begin. The company still needs to satisfy regulatory steps and sanctions-related compliance, a process it estimates may require up to 120 days.
CPP contracts, first used under Nicolás Maduro, were written into Venezuela's oil-law framework this year, expanding private operators' room to manage spending, operations, and sales while the state keeps ownership of the resources.
This sits inside a US-led effort to jump-start Venezuela's oil sector. On Wednesday, executives from Chevron, GE Vernova and Eni joined US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez to announce a set of agreements intended to boost crude production. Bloomberg first reported the approach to the GeoPark transaction last week.
Earlier this year, the Gilinski family acquired a 20% interest in GeoPark to enter Venezuela's oil sector following the arrest and ouster of former strongman Nicolás Maduro. Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski, worth $40.3 billion per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has also been leaning into Venezuela's reopening economy by buying ice cream chain Tio Rico and plans to boost Colombian shipments through Nutresa SA. For your wallet, the takeaway is simple: if this closes, control of GeoPark would shift to the Gilinskis and the company would be more tied to Venezuela's oil rebound story, but progress hinges on regulatory and sanctions clearance and whether Bare's production ramps as outlined.
