Continental Resources, the energy company led by Trump donor Harold Hamm, revealed on Wednesday that it has finalized an agreement to pursue drilling operations in Venezuela. A company statement confirmed that a memorandum of understanding has been signed with Venezuela's state-owned oil entity, granting access to a 126,000-acre block situated within the resource-rich Orinoco heavy oil belt.

"Continental was built on identifying massive resource opportunities and pursuing them with determination," Hamm said in a written statement. The announcement arrives just weeks after separate cooperative agreements were unveiled by the U.S. government and Chevron Corp regarding Venezuela.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration launched a military intervention in Venezuela and detained the nation's leader, Nicolás Maduro. Following that operation, Trump has pushed American energy firms to invest in extracting oil from this South American country, which boasts substantial petroleum reserves. Hamm, who contributed significant sums to Trump's presidential campaign, is also among the backers of the Trump banquet hall project.