Rosneft, PDVSA sign offshore cooperation agreement
MOSCOW. July 2 (Interfax) - Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft and Venezuelan national company PDVSA have signed a cooperation agreement on offshore projects.
The document was signed following negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro.
In addition, PDVSA and Russian energy company Inter RAO UES signed an agreement to build a combined heat and power plant in Venezuela that runs on petroleum coke.
Russian bank Gazprombank and PDVSA signed an agreement on terms of financing.
Also, a protocol was signed that makes alterations to a Russian-Venezuelan cooperation agreement on joint strategic projects, dated September 10, 2010.
In January, PDVSA and Rosneft signed a memorandum of understanding to explore and develop the Rio Caribe and Mejillones offshore gas blocks at the second stage of the Mariscal Sucre project, which has potential daily production of 600 million cubic feet of gas and 20,000 barrels of condensate. The document also envisages work at the Blanquilla and Tortuga gas blocks in western Venezuela.
According to another memorandum of understanding, the two companies will jointly assess the possibilities of developing mature fields near Lake Maracaibo in the state of Zulia.
Rosneft and PDVSA are also planning to collaborate on drilling and maintaining offshore wells in the Gulf of Paria.
