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Caracas in control of Orinoco



By Upstream staff 

Venezuela took a major step towards its objective of taking operational control of four consortia producing and upgrading extra heavy oil on the Orinoco belt this week by signing agreements with most of the foreign companies involved, writes Gareth Chetwynd.

“We are signing the memorandum of understanding to btransfer operations& over to the Venezuelan state in the shape of PDVSA,” said Rafael Ramirez, who is both oil minister and president of state-run PDVSA.

The signing ceremony was attended by ExxonMobil, Chevron, Statoil, BP and Total.

The absence of Conoco- Phillips initially fuelled some speculation that the company, with stakes in the Petrozuata and Hamaca (Ameriven) projects could be resisting the process.

The signing also covered the La Ceiba conventional oilfield, which was operated by Exxon- Mobil, in partnership with Petro-Canada.

Ramirez had also said that the offshore Corocoro project would be covered, but the absence of ConocoPhillips and its principal partner on the project, Italy’s Eni, meant no agreement was signed there either.

However, ConocoPhillips chief executive Jim Mulva seemed to scotch such rumours in an earnings statement and conference call that was held almost simultaneously with the ceremony in Caracas.

He stressed his company acknowledged the presidential decree and would turn over all operations to PDVSA on 1 May.

Mulva said talks covering compensation, commecial terms and governance are still ongoing and that the negotiating process was likely to go well beyond 1 May.

In accordance with government policy laid down by President Hugo Chavez, PDVSA is demanding that its minority stakes in the four projects be increased to 60%.

PDVSA officials have said that compensation deals are likely to be financed by payment in kind, tapping future production in the projects.

Venezuela has also claimed the right to compensate for the book value of these projects, not the market value

“We have a preliminary agreement on compensation with a majority of the projects,” said Ramirez.


Friday, 27 April, 2007, 02:30 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 27 April, 2007, 02:30 GMT

Orinoco deal:Venezuela takes control of four consortia
 

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