PDVSA: Set to name highest bidders in August
PDVSA to name highest bidders in Orinoco
State-run giant PDVSA will disclose next August the names of the companies that will be vested with the rights over seven blocks at the Orinoco Oil Belt, said the company.
A total of 19 companies are interested in having a stake in any project where PDVSA will have at least 60% of the share, as it has been the case since 2007 in the domestic oil sector, reported El Universal newspaper.
According to the state-owned company, at this present time, the grounds for selection and the framework agreement for mixed companies are being reviewed.
On 28 July, the envelopes containing the bids will be introduced and opened.
Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramirez met this week with the designated officials from the interested companies in order to clarify some issues about the invitation to tender.
Ramirez said that thanks to the Magna Reserva project, Venezuela has now 172.3 billion barrels of oil in reserves and "by 2010, it will reach 316 billion barrels of crude oil."
The companies concerned include, among others, British BP, US Chevron, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Colombian Ecopetrol, Portuguese Galp, Japanese Mitsubishi, Brazilian, Spanish Repsol, Norwegian StatoilHydro, French Total and a Russian consortium.