Statoil in Norway has signed two agreements with Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA. The agreements were signed on January 23, 2008 between Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela's oil and energy minister and CEO of PDVSA, and StatoilHydro's chief executive Helge Lund.
One of the agreements involves work to quantify the reserves of block Junin 10 in the Orinoco belt, an areas covering 593 square kilometres. The other agreement is to complete a development study for this block. The Orinoco belt is found in the southern strip of the eastern Orinoco River basin in Venezula.
In an official statement, StatoilHydro’s Lund comments: "With the signing of these agreements, we are confirming our long term commitment to Venezuela and interest to expand our industrial activity in this country. The signing of these agreements represents a great opportunity to StatoilHydro to support the development of the Venezuelan oil business.”
The Norwegian group has been active in Venezuela since 1995, and has a 9.7% stake in Petrocedeno, an extra heavy oil project that processes, refines, and sells upgraded crude oil.
There has been some concern among the key global oil majors about the impact of the policies of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez on their investments. Last year, ExxonMobil and Conoco-Philips refused to agree to new terms, after PDVSA decided to increase its stake in their projects. Both firms are now seeking international arbitration. However, Statoil, along with Chevron, Total and BP have accepted the terms.
At the beginning of 2008, Chavez announced that Venezuela “is shaping up as a world oil and energy superpower,” during his annual address to the country at the national assembly. He also listed the most significant events to have taken place in the energy sector during 2007, including PDSVA taking controlling stakes in projects in the Orinoco Oil Belt.
Minister of energy Ramirez also announced that US$15.6bn would be spent on operational issues in the sector.
Last Updated January 25, 2008
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