May 28, 2007
Survey finds 31 billion barrels in Venezuela heavy oil block

(Reuters) - "A survey has found 31 billion barrels of oil in block Carabobo 2 of Venezuela's Orinoco heavy crude belt, 6 billion of them recoverable, state oil company PDVSA said.

PDVSA said oil services company Ryder Scott had done the survey. PDVSA estimated proven reserves at about 6 billion barrels, based on a recovery rate of around 20 percent of the original oil.

Venezuela is currently certifying the reserves of the vast Orinoco basin, which energy authorities say contains some 235 billion barrels of tar-like crude.

The government of President Hugo Chávez on May 1 took over operations of four heavy crude upgrading projects as part of a nationalization.

PDVSA said that engineering and construction company Stone & Webster, owned by The Shaw Group, inspected facilities of two of the projects and determined operations were continuing smoothly following the handover.

PDVSA said financiers of the two projects, Ameriven and Petrozuata, carried out the study to allay concerns that the transfer of operations had damaged the projects operations.

The four projects, worth an estimated $30 billion, have outstanding financing of around $4 billion.

Companies involved in the projects are Exxon Mobil, Conoco Phillips Chevron Corp, France's Total, and Norway's Statoil".