日本経済新聞　2009/9/20

ベネズエラ石油公社、日米伊露などと天然ガス事業で合意

ベネズエラの国営石油会社、PDVSAは19日、日本や米国、イタリア、ロシアなど7カ国の企業と天然ガス開発や液化、輸送事業で協力する覚書を交わした。調印式に出席したチャベス大統領は「2012年にガス生産量を現状の63億立方メートルから115億立方メートルに引き上げる」とした。日本から参加するのは三菱商事、三井物産、伊藤忠商事。

2008-09-20　Xinhua

Venezuela signs gas project with 8 transnational companies

The Venezuelan government signed agreements Friday with eight transnational companies on the exploitation of the country's rich natural gas resources.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, along with president of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) Rafael Ramirez, attended the signing ceremony at the Miraflores Palace, seat of the national government.

The Delta Caribe Oriental project aims to nearly double the country's gas production from 6 billion to 11.5 billion cubic feeta day by 2012.

Venezuela will build a mixed company to produce liquefied natural gas with the U.S. company Chevron, Qatar Petroleum, Japan's Mistubishi, Mitsui and Itochu, Russia's Gazprom, Italy's ENI and Malaysia's Petronas.

They also signed a memorandum of understanding to develop the offshore gas fields Blanquilla and Tortuga.

"This is a historical event," Chavez said.

https://www.iamericas.org/documents/energy/ljc08/Ruben%20Figuera.pdf

September 19, 2008 Business News Americas

LNG investments to hit US$19.6bn, JVs include Chevron, Gazprom, and Eni - Venezuela

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and the president of state oil company PDVSA Rafael Ramirez signed agreements on Friday with a number of foreign oil companies to form JVs to develop three LNG trains in the country.

Investment in the three trains to both develop offshore natural gas fields and construct liquefaction facilities will reach US$19.6bn, Chavez and Ramirez said on Venezuelan television.

While agreements for the first train were widely expected, the agreements for the second and third trains were full of surprises that saw Japanese, Russian and Malaysian firms join the project, an industry analyst told BNamericas.

Authorities signed agreements to form JVs to develop the first two LNG trains and signed MOUs to plan for the development of the third.

The first LNG train will use gas from the Plataforma Deltana's block 2. Chevron has a 39% stake in the block, and PDVSA holds the balance, Ramirez said.

The second train will use gas from PDVSA's Mariscal Sucre field, which PDVSA plans to develop alone.

PDVSA will hold 60% of the JV formed to develop the first train. Portugal's Galp will hold 15%, Chevron will hold 10%, Qatar Petroleum will hold 10% and Japan's Mitsubishi-Mitsui will have a 5% stake. Investment in the train will reach US$6.4bn.

PDVSA will also have a 60% in the JV formed to develop the second train. Portugal's Galp will have a 15% stake, Argentina's state energy company Enarsa will hold 10%, Mitsubishi-Mitsui will have 5% and Japan's Itochu will hold 10%. A total of US$5.2bn will be spent to develop the second train.

For the third train, PDVSA awarded two new offshore blocks including Blanquilla and Tortuga to an exploration consortium formed by PDVSA (20%), Russia's Gazprom (30%), Malaysia's Petronas (20%), Italy's Eni (20%) and Portugal's EDP (10%). Some US$700mn will be spent on exploration activities over the areas.

"Thirteen companies paid US$350,000 in August 2006 for the data package to bid on the Delta Caribe offshore gas licenses including the two blocks that were just awarded, which I guess is now finally not going to happen," an industry source told BNamericas.

PDVSA will hold a 60% stake in the JV that will develop the third train to use gas from the aforementioned consortium. Gazprom will have a 15% in the third train, Petronas will hold 10%, Eni will hold 10% and EDP will have a 5% stake. Some US$7.3bn will be spent to develop the train.

Offshore pipelines from the Blanquilla and Tortuga fields will connect with Margarita island before reaching the Cigma liquefaction facility.

The Cigma liquefaction facility under development near the Delta Caribe Oriental offshore blocks should begin LNG exports from the first two trains by 2013. Exports from the third train would begin by 2016.

Each train will have the capacity to process the equivalent of 200,000boe/d, Ramirez said.

Chavez praised the project and said the Venezuela's natural gas production would double by 2014, allowing the country to better serve its tight domestic market as well as begin exports.

"Natural gas will give us the same opportunities that oil gave us years ago," Chavez said at the signing ceremony. "We can now say that the gas revolution has begun for sure."

The president also praised Chevron's comittiment and said the country would welcome better ties with the US when a new administration is sworn in next year.

Sept. 19, 2008(Bloomberg)

Venezuela Signs Gas Deals With Foreign Companies

Venezuela signed agreements today with OAO Gazprom of Russia, Italy's Eni SpA and other foreign companies for offshore natural gas projects that will require $19.7 billion in investment over eight years.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state oil company, will form joint ventures with the firms, which include Chevron Corp., Qatar Petroleum, Petronas Corp. of Malaysia and three Japanese companies, according to a government statement today.

Venezuela, the biggest oil exporter in the Western Hemisphere, plans to boost output of natural gas. Today's energy deals come slightly more than a year after President Hugo Chavez took control of four heavy crude joint ventures, prompting ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp. to pull out of the country and seek arbitration.

"This is an historic act,'' Chavez said today during a signing ceremony at the presidential palace in Caracas.

The natural gas ventures will produce gas in the Caribbean Sea and transport and liquefy it for consumption in Venezuela and for export, Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said.

Venezuela aims to lift its natural gas production to 11.5 billion cubic feet a day by 2012, up from the current 6.3 billion cubic feet, Ramirez said.

The agreements were separated into three ``trains'' to produce and liquefy the gas, including a memorandum of understanding between PDVSA, Gazprom and Eni to explore and certify reserves. The ventures will produce and explore in the La Blanquilla and Tortuga areas off the Venezuelan coast, Ramirez said.

The Japanese companies involved in today's agreements are Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co. and Itochu Corp.

U.S. Involvement

Chavez took a moment to especially thank representatives from Chevron, the only U.S. firm present at today's ceremony. Relations between the two countries have unraveled recently, with Chavez expelling the U.S. ambassador in Caracas last week.

``To the directors of Chevron, to businessmen from the United States, the only aspiration we have is that you respect us,'' Chavez said. ``Thank you for your presence.''