February 17, 2005
PDVSA and Shell agreed to negotiate Maracaibo and Orinoco projects

(BNamericas.com) - "Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA and Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell plan to negotiate new joint venture agreements to increase production from Lake Maracaibo and produce heavy oil in the Orinoco belt, PDVSA said in a statement.

PDVSA and Shell also reiterated their commitment to 'progress development' of the Mariscal Sucre liquefied natural gas (LNG) project during a meeting in Caracas between Venezuela's energy and oil minister and PDVSA president Rafael Ramírez and Shell executive director Linda Cook.

Ramírez and Cook agreed to 'early conclusion of negotiations' to enable investment to begin on the Mariscal Sucre project, the statement said.

PDVSA, Shell and Japan's Mitsubishi signed a preliminary agreement to develop the US$2.7bn Mariscal Sucre project off the Paria peninsula in eastern Venezuela in December 2002 (...)

Shell and PDVSA also expressed their willingness to create a new joint venture for exploration and production projects in Lake Maracaibo aimed at development of the Urdaneta North field. Shell is already operating the Urdaneta West field in Lake Maracaibo. Shell and PDVSA are also considering a joint venture for heavy oil production in the Orinoco belt using technology developed by Shell. Joint teams are being established to negotiate definitive agreements for these projects by the end of 2005, the statement said.

Cook emphasized Shell's long-term commitment to Venezuela and Shell's willingness to work with the government and PDVSA on oil and gas developments".