Yesterday in Caracas (Venezuela) Gazprom and state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the presence of Igor Sechin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. The Memorandum stipulates possible creation of a joint venture to develop the Robalo gas field in the Gulf of Venezuela.
Pursuant to the document, PDVSA will supply Gazprom with proposals on the cooperation terms and conditions as well as with geological information about the project.
The Memorandum also envisages negotiations on the project scheme, shareholding structure and other aspects related to the Robalo field development.
The parties highlighted the mutual interest in furthering the bilateral cooperation within new economically attractive projects in the petroleum sector.
Background
Venezuelaholds in excess of 5 trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves making it the second largest gas country in the Western Hemisphere after the USA. Venezuela annually produces around 22.9 billion cubic meters of gas (primarily associated petroleum gas). The country’s proven oil reserves amount to 28.2 billion tons. The largest oil production regions are Maracaibo, Falcon, Oriental and Apure.
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Source: Gazprom, October 11, 2011