Rosneft expects Carabobo-2 block reserves in Venezuela to increase 70%
ST. PETERSBURG. June 20 (Interfax) - Russian oil company Rosneft figures reserves at the Carabobo-2 block in Venezuela will increase 70%, Rosneft President Igor Sechin said at the company's annual shareholders meeting.
"Last year in Venezuela, in addition to the existing Hunin-6 project, we concluded a memorandum on joining the Carabobo-2 project. That is forty billion barrels of geological reserves," Sechin said. "The first results achieved after the drilling of a strategraphic well in Venezuela showed the exceeding of forecasts for reserves in these deposits of almost 70%. We will begin drilling the first production well in the near future," he said.
Rosneft announced earlier that recoverable oil resources at Carabobo-2 amounted to 8 billion tonnes.
Last December, Rosneft and Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) set up a joint venture for Carabobo-2's development - Rosneft getting a 40% stake in the enterprise.
The Carabobo-2 project includes the fields Carabobo-2 North and Carabobo-4 West, which are located in the Orinoco River belt. Top commercial oil production - about 25 million tonnes per year.
Rosneft is a member of the National Oil Consortium in the South American country. This consortium is involved in the development of the Hunin-6 block. Other consortium members are Surgutneftegas , Lukoil , Gazprom Neft , and TNK-BP .
The Hunin-6 block's geological reserves amount to 52.6 billion barrels of oil. Daily production by the JV will be a planned 450,000 barrels by 2018, according to plan. The operational period is 25 years with the possibility of a 15-year extension.
