Belarus expects to continue oil cooperation with Venezuela
MINSK. March 11 (Interfax) - Two major Belarusian oil sector companies, Belneftekhim and Belorusneft, expect oil cooperation with Venezuela to continue after the nation elects a new president.
"The projects that Belarus is realizing in cooperation with Venezuela are mutually beneficial," a Belneftekhim representative told Interfax.
"Our cooperation not only gives Venezuela the opportunity to develop its oil and gas fields, but also the ability to use our unique oil extraction technologies, to create new jobs and receive material compensation, in accordance with the contracts and provisions under which the Petrolera BeloVenesolana joint venture was created," he said.
"No one has canceled anything in this project for now. The project is moving forward," he said.
While in Caracas for Hugo Chavez's funeral, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko met briefly with interim President Nicolas Maduro and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello.
Those two confirmed to Lukashenko Venezuela's readiness for the closest political and economic relations with Belarus. "It will be the same as it was in Hugo Chavez's time," Maduro told Lukashenko at their meeting.
The head of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, Rafael Ramirez, said the oil sector would also adhere to Chavez's course.
That should ensure that Venezuelan-Belarusian cooperation continues in the oil sector, Ramirez said.
A representative of Belorusneft, the operator for oil production projects in Venezuela, told Interfax: "So far there has been no cause for concern about a change of course in Caracas concerning Belarus' participation in the nation's oil sector."
"All of the projects that Belorusneft is implementing with the participation of PDVSA, are being carried out in full," the Belorusneft representative said.
