Russia, Venezuela Agree On $14 Billion Oil And Gas Investment Deal

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says his country has reached an agreement with Russia which will bring $14 billion in investment to its oil and gas sector over the next few years. Здесь www.lightwood.store/nedorogie-bukety Вы найдете недорогие букеты цветов в Полтаве

The agreement was reached between the Venezuela’s state oil firm, PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela) and the Russia’s oil giant Rosneft, following talks in Caracas, between Maduro, the president of PDVSA, Eulogio Del Pino, and the president of Rosneft, Igor Sechin.

“We had a great meeting and agreed on investment of over $14 billion,” Maduro said during a television address following the meeting, adding that the funds would go towards doubling the nation’s oil production.

According to Maduro, the investment will be used to help develop the Orinoco Belt, which spans the northeast and into the Caribbean Sea and holds some of the largest crude oil reserves in the world.

Maduro added that the two countries will also look into developing the Latin American nation’s gas sphere.

PDVSA had set an ambitious target of trying to double the country’s oil production to 6 million barrels a day by 2019 (8 million tons a year) from just 1.6 million tons per year in 2014. Four million of these barrels are expected to come from the Orinoco Belt, however Maduro did not provide further details of how the investment plan would be put into practice.

PDVSA also said that Rosneft had proposed an increase of its stake in its subsidiary Petromonagas from 16.7 percent to 40 percent, which is the maximum allowed for a foreign partner in a joint oil venture in Venezuela.

Maduro also said following a meeting in Moscow in January with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the two countries agreed to increase the number of joint exploration projects.

“We have agreed to step up the investment and participation of Russian companies and their share of joint ventures in the Orinoco oil belt and other projects. This will expand investments in stocks and oil production,” Maduro said on January 15.

The Orinoco oil and gas basin has over 250 oil and 19 gas fields. The world’s largest deposits of heavy oil, the Junin and Carabobo are located in the west of the area. The oilfields in the Orinoco oil basin and offshore gives Venezuela the world’s largest-known reserves.