World
  |
|
Petroecuador to assess and certify reserves in Orinoco strip
El Universal
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 03 14 07Officials with Venezuelan and Ecuadorian state oil firms Pdvsa and Petroecuador are refining a letter of intent under which the latter is assessing and certifying a part of oil reserves in heavy-crude oil Orinoco strip, eastern Venezuela.
Assessment and certification of reserves in Orinoco strip -for which 27 blocks have been demarcated- have already been undertook by Brazilian Petrobras, Indian ONGC, Russian Lukoil and Gazprom, Iranian Petropars, Spanish Repsol, Chinese CNPC, Malaysian Petronas, Belarusian Belorusneft, Vietnamese Petrovietnam, Cuban Cupet, Argentinean Enarsa, and Uruguayan Ancap.
According to reports published by Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo, under the instruments Pdvsa and Petroecuador are refining the Venezuelan holding would also have a stake in oilfield Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini (ITT), considered as the largest oilfield in Ecuador, as well as in the construction of a new oil refining compound over the Pacific Ocean.
Some months ago there were reports that Pdvsa would have a stake in the expansion and overhauling of Ecuador's largest refinery Esmeraldas. However, a different proposal emerged recently to build a new crude oil processing facility from scratch in Manabí. Latin American major oil holdings would have a stake in this 300,000 bpd plant which is to include petrochemical facilities. Investment is estimated at some USD 4 billion.
Besides this plant, another option for the Venezuelan oil to have an exit to the Pacific Ocean is construction of a refining compound in Panama or Nicaragua, as well as installation of a storage hub in Central America.
The letter of intent for Petroecuador participation in the assessment and certification of oil reserves in Orinoco strip is expected to be reviewed next March 20 and initialed on April 1st.
El Universal 13 03 07
Copyright© 2007 Universal. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels