Oil producers U.S. Chevron, Italy's ENI and Colombia's Geopark are among the companies set to sign energy agreements in Venezuela as soon as Wednesday, three sources close to the preparations said.
Other companies planning to ink agreements include power company GE Vernova, Denver-based oil service firm Aspect, along with investors KEO Capital and Primavera, the sources said.
The deals are not linked to the controversial Caracas-Washington deal that gives the U.S. access to 17 large oilfields. Most of the pacts relate to project expansions that have been in negotiation with Venezuela's oil ministry and state oil company PDVSA as part of the migration of dozens of energy contracts to new terms under a sweeping oil reform approved in January.
Still, the flurry of signings represents the latest effort by private companies and governments to revive Venezuela's struggling oil industry, which currently produces about 1.25 million barrels per day, far short of its 3 million barrel-per-day peak reached in the late 1990s.
Most oil majors have eschewed major investment in the country for years, retreating after a 2007 nationalization. The industry has also faltered due to lack of investment, mismanagement and sanctions imposed by the U.S., which is now spearheading a $100 billion investment plan that officials say will double output in coming years.
CHEVRON TO INVEST $7 BILLION
U.S. oil major Chevron plans to invest more than $7 billion to more than double crude production in the OPEC country to about 600,000 barrels per day over the next five years, part of its strategy of expanding joint ventures with PDVSA, it said on Wednesday.
KEO Capital said in a release last week that one of its U.S. subsidiaries had reached an agreement for the Petrourdaneta oil joint venture with PDVSA, following the approval of its board, turning the company into the project's operator and including a $350 million credit facility.
ENI, which shares an offshore gas project with Repsol and a shallow water oil project with PDVSA, is seeking to expand oil operations in Venezuela through a new area in the Orinoco Belt, according to separate sources.
The company told Reuters last week it was working with its Venezuelan counterparties to "support the revitalization of the country's energy sector." It declined to provide details.
Colombia-based Geopark and GE Vernova declined comment.
Primavera, an energy firm co-founded by billionaire Fred Ehrsam to invest in Venezuela that has been negotiating at least three oil areas, could not be reached immediately for comment.
Venezuela's Oil Minister Paula Henao and U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, who arrived in Caracas late on Tuesday, are expected to oversee the signing of the contracts, officials have said.
India's ONGC has also progressed in negotiations with Venezuelan authorities, which could soon lead to contracts, but it is not expected to be signed at the same event, separate sources said.
ONGC did not reply to requests for comment.
(Reuters)
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