Russia's Rosneft and Venezuela's national oil and gas company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), agreed to establish a 50-50 joint venture to develop the offshore natural gas fields Patao, Mejillones and potentially Rio Caribe in Venezuela. Rosneft will serve as project operator.
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| A meeting between Rosneft's Igor Sechin and PDVSA President Rafael Ramirez in 2014. Photo: Rosneft |
The heads of agreement signed on 19 February follows the memorandum signed by both Rosneft and PDVSA last June at the St. Petersburg International Economics Forum. The agreement, Rosneft says, provides that the parties shall move to the practical stage and perform the in-depth feasibility study on the project. The two companies still have a short time limit to agree on rules establishing the joint venture.
The gas production at the three fields is expected to be up to 25 MMcm/d (9 Bcm/y), providing the potential to develop the world-class export-oriented pipeline or LNG project, Rosneft says.
Rosneft and PDVSA share joint ventures in five other projects in Venezuela.
The development of the Mejillones and Rio Caribe fields have been a subject of discussion between PDVSA and Rosneft for years. A deal was originally struck between the two companies in July 2013 to conduct technical and economic viability of developing the fields.
Venezuela celebrated first gas from the offshore Perla field last July. The field is operated by a joint venture called Cardon IV, which includes Spain's Repsol and Italy's Eni.
Perla, in the Cardon IV West concession at roughly 200ft water depth, holds nearly 17 Tcf of gas in place, with proven reserves of 9.5 Tcf.
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