February 17, 2005
Venezuelan Energy Ministry plans to call for bids on 10 Gulf fields

(BNamericas.com) - "Venezuela's Energy and Oil Ministry plans to call for bids this month on 10 natural gas exploration and production licenses in the Gulf of Venezuela, energy and oil minister and president of state oil firm PDVSA, Rafael Ramírez, told reporters.

The Rafael Urdaneta project includes 32 fields in the Gulf of Venezuela, but initially the ministry will only call for bids on 10 licenses to explore and produce natural gas, Ramírez said.

The Ministry had planned to launch the tender this month, but the Minister declined to disclose an exact date for the process to begin. 'Soon we will announce a date, it could be this month', he said.

For gas prospecting, 'there's important seismic data we have collected in the past. We believe that this will be an extraordinary opportunity to develop the Gulf of Venezuela'. Unlike the Deltana platform in eastern Venezuela, 'these will not be grassroots projects, there's plenty of infrastructure for gas'. Eventually Ramírez envisions 'a multiple process for gas and oil' licenses in the greater Maracaibo Lake-Gulf of Venezuela area.

The ministry could award licenses to explore and produce crude in Lake Maracaibo, he said.

'We are evaluating in the Urumaco area, the one nearer the exit of the Maracaibo lake, we are looking at speculative seismic data to look for oil, we believe that there are important concentrations of crude', Ramírez said".