Tender delayed: Venezuela energy minister Rafael Ramirez
Carabobo tender delayed
Venezuela has postponed the tender of its Carabobo heavy crude blocks in the Orinoco oil belt, energy minister Rafael Ramirez said.
"It's been delayed because companies have asked for more time to analyse, form consortiums and it seems reasonable to us," Ramirez told reporters.
Authorities were working on a new timeline for the bidding process, said Ramirez.
The deadline for companies to present their offers for the project expires this week, a Reuters reports said.
It would be the first tender since the government nationalised several projects in the Orinoco belt.
Among the interested companies are state-run China National Petroleum Corporation, France's Total, US-based Chevron, Colombia's Ecopetrol, Malaysia's Petronas, Spain's Repsol, Portugal's Galp Energy, Brazil's Petrobras and Norway's StatoilHydro.