September
4, 2003
PDVSA
sees Shell, Mitsubishi LNG JV deal signed by December
By Mark Long
(Dow Jones Newswires) - Petróleos de
Venezuela SA, (PdVSA), said it expects to sign
a final joint venture deal with Royal Dutch/ Shell
Group (RD, SC) and Mitsubishi Corp. to develop
the $2.7 billion Mariscal Sucre liquefied natural
gas project by the end of November.
Luis
Vierma, who is the state-owned oil monopoly's
director and the nation's Deputy Oil Minister,
said PdVSA recently decided to use Shell's gas
liquefaction technology in the project. "I
believe by the end of November we will be signing
a joint venture agreement," Vierma told reporters
during a briefing at the Offshore Europe conference
here.
Venezuela
is aggressively moving to develop its natural
gas industry. PdVSA signed an early agreement
last year on the Mariscal Sucre project, located
in the Gulf of Paria, which would give PdVSA 60%
ownership, Shell 30%, Mitsubishi 8% and other
Venezuelan organizations 2%. Mariscal Sucre is
projected to produce 4.7 million tons of liquefied
natural gas, mostly for export to the U.S.
A
spokeswoman for Shell in London said she couldn't
confirm when a final deal would be signed, but
said Shell was working toward such a deal, which
would create a legal entity in charge of developing
the project.
