Counting: PDVSA is working with private and national oil companies from around the world to sum up Orinoco reserve figures
PDVSA tallies up Orinoco numbers
Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA is firming up reserve figures on the Orinoco heavy crude belt, the company vice president Luis Vierma told journalists at a conference in Maracaibo.
PDVSA is working with the private sector and national oil companies from around the world on the certifications, wrote BNamericas.
"I can tell you everything we are doing with the reserve certifications in the Orinoco belt is going to be completed soon. So next year at this time, you will see even more new oil activity in the country, both in the Orinoco and our offshore areas," he said.
National oil companies such as Chile's Enap and Russia's Lukoil have said they have completed testing works on their respective blocks and are now waiting for PDVSA to advance the projects.
The reserve certifications are part of Venezuela's Magna Reserva program that is seeking to certify 260 billion barrels in retrievable oil spread over two dozen blocks in the Orinoco.
More than a dozen companies - mainly state owned - are taking part in the program, hoping positive finds will result in an E&P partnership with PDVSA.