MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2005
OVL in talks for Venezuelan oilfield
NEW DELHI: ONGC Videsh Ltd, the foreign arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, is in talks with Venezuela's PDVSA for a stake in Tomoporo oilfield containing about one billion barrels of recoverable light crude reserves.
"OVL managing director Ranbir Singh Butola is visiting Venezuela this week for negotiating a deal," a source close to the development said.
Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A (PDVSA) plans to increase output at its Tomoporo oilfield, one of the country's largest, from 90,000 barrels per day to 130,000 barrels per day and is considering giving a strategic investor 49 per cent stake.
Global oil majors including French major Total, Norway's Statoil, Royal Dutch/Shell, Spain's Repsol and US majors ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco are also believed to be keen on partnering PDVSA in Tomoporo field.
Also on OVL radar is Venezuela's new bidding round of offshore natural gas licences, the source said. Five offshore blocks are up for grabs in the Gulf of Venezuela and one off the coast of Falcon state in the first phase of the "Rafael Urdaneta" project. PDVSA will retain the option of taking 35 per cent take in projects that go commercial.
The six blocks are Urumaco I, II, and III, Moruy III and Cardon III, all in the Gulf of Venezuela, and La Vela Sur off the coast of Falcon. Their size ranges from 160 sq km to 998 sq km.
The last date for bidding is July 27 and the winners would be announced on August 10, the source said.
The Venezuelan Gulf, north of the oil-rich Maracaibo Lake in the country, holds an estimated 23 trillion cubic feet of gas and some 7 billion barrels of oil.
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