August 24, 2005
PDVSA will send Intevep team to India in September

(BNamericas.com) - "Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA will send a team from its research and development subsidiary Intevep to assist Oil India Limited in drilling two pilot wells in India's Rajasthan region in September, PDVSA said in a statement.

The team will help with the execution of the second phase of the Baghewala project, which India hopes will increase its crude production. The initiative is in line with a memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries earlier this year for the exchange of exploration and production technology.

The team will include several Intevep specialists in drilling fluids, well construction and mechanical design. Personnel trained in underground production and surface infrastructure will be added later, the statement said.

In return Indian companies will train Venezuelan workers in offshore E&P, the statement said.

PDVSA, which has very little experience in offshore E&P, announced plans last week it would develop several offshore oil and natural gas projects in Venezuela on its own, specifically the Mariscal Sucre project in the eastern part of the country.

India is also expected to receive exploration rights to a block in Venezuela's Orinoco extra-heavy crude oil belt as part of the energy cooperation agreement between the two countries".