(Xinhua) - "Venezuela is ready to take bilateral cooperation with Russia further, especially in the economic field, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said here.

Speaking at a business forum at the Russian Chamber for Commerce and Industry, the Venezuelan leader hailed cooperation between two countries in such spheres as power engineering, military cooperation and scientific research, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. Chávez said that the economic cooperation 'could be diversified.'

Chávez welcomed the presence of Russian oil and gas companies on the Venezuelan market and unveiled plans for cooperation in the development of several deposits whose amounts of oil are estimated at about 300 billion tons.

According to Chávez, there were huge gas fields in the Caribbean, about 200 trillion cubic meters. 'We discussed with President Putin the possibility of organizing a meeting of specialists, so that they could assess projects we have outlined,' he said.

Chávez said that Russia oil company Lukoil and gas giant Gazprom had promised to help develop the oil and gas industry in Venezuela.

'Gazprom is also working with us in the interests of the Caribbean Basin, where explored fields have reserves of around 200trillion cubic meters,' he said.

Venezuela is planning to build an 8,000-kilometer gas pipeline from southern Venezuela to Argentina. Accordingly, Venezuela needs advanced technology in gas liquefaction and other petrochemical sectors.

'Venezuela is buying four to five billion U.S. dollars worth of equipment for extraction and processing of oil and gas,' said Chávez".