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Venezuela, Malaysia sign Energy, Agriculture accords
By Theresa Bradley
Bloomberg
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 12 20 06
Venezuela and Malaysia pledged to extend cooperation in energy and agriculture as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez seeks to cultivate new trading partners to reduce his country's reliance on the U.S.Chavez and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tonight signed five joint declarations, including one calling for Malaysian oil company Petronas to join state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA in extracting extra-heavy crude from Venezuela's oil-rich Orinoco region. They also agreed to create a council for socioeconomic cooperation, part of Chavez's plan to strengthen relations within the Southern Hemisphere.
``We've broken the colonialist proposal of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which was imposed by Washington specifically to prevent these channels of trade between Venezuela, Malaysia and Asia,'' Chavez told reporters after signing the accords in Caracas.
Venezuela, which sends more than half of its oil exports to the U.S., has sought to boost ties with other countries, welcoming oil companies from at least nine other nations to help Petroleos de Venezuela, known as PDVSA, develop fields in Orinoco's 34,000-square mile La Faja region. Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil supplier.
Oil Accords
Chavez earlier today invited other oil-producing states, including Brazil, to preserve their own reserves and to do business in Venezuela instead.
``I'd advise brother nations that don't have as easy access to oil to come here and slow the extraction of their own resources,'' he told reporters after touring refineries in the state of Anzoategui with Abdullah. ``We're giving our hand to our brothers for integration.''
Chavez and Abdullah, meeting in Venezuela on the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, also plan to study the possibility of building a joint crude-oil refinery in Malaysia and creating a mixed company to produce additional oil and gas in Venezuela.
According to today's agreement, Petronas would help build production facilities for extra-heavy crude in Orinoco's 777- square-mile Boyaca block, which contains reserves capable of producing 35 billion barrels of oil a day, PDVSA said in a statement.
Palm Oil
A second letter of intent signed tonight calls for Malaysian holding company Golden Hope Plantations Berhard to help PDVSA cultivate palm oil in Venezuela for possible use as biofuel.
Malaysia is the world's largest producer of palm oil. Chavez earlier today praised the country's industry for providing housing and social assistance to its workers, a model he said Venezuela hopes to replicate as it pursues his plans for ``21st Century Socialism.''
Abdullah offered Malaysian aid to help build housing and schools in Venezuela's oil regions to support an expected influx of workers as oil resources are developed there. Chavez said he plans to visit Malaysia in April for additional talks that will build on today's accords.
To contact the reporter on this story: Theresa Bradley in Caracas at tbradley7@bloomberg.net .
BLOOMBERG / December 19, 2006
Copyright© 2001 Bloomberg.All Rights Reserved.
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