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Total has no plans to quit Venezuela Sincor heavy oil project:CEO
AFP
Paris
Petroleumworld.com 05 30 07
French major Total is determined to stay on as a partner in Venezuela's
Sincor heavy oil project in the Orinoco belt and is still negotiating the
terms of reducing its stake in the project, Chief Executive Officer Christophe
de Margerie said Tuesday."For the big project of Sincor, which we don't intend to leave ... we
are expected to transfer the operatorship for an interim period to PDVSA and
then the partnership is supposed to be transfered to the 'mixed enterprise' if
we agree on terms to transfer assets from Sincor to this 'mixed enterprise',"
said de Margerie in an interview with Platts.He was commenting on the difficult negotiations with Caracas over the
decision by the government of President Hugo Chavez for the state to take a
60% stake in the four Orinoco belt heavy oil projects.He said Total was negotiating the terms of compensation for the decrease
in its interest in Sincor from 47% to 30%. The company considers it normal to
receive compensation "in one way or another. It is not automatically cash. It
can be other ways. It can be crude or contractual terms.""...We believe it is important for companies to stay in the Orinoco
belt. I think it is good for Venezuela and I still believe in the long term
relations between Venezuela and Total even if we have to go through difficult
times."PDVSA took over operations of the Sincor, Ameriven, Petrozuata and Cerro
Negro projects on May 1 from partners including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips,
following a decree by Chavez for the state to take a majority stake.Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA said recently that it was
producing 482,000 b/d of upgraded crude at its four Orinoco heavy oil
projects, which are converting the heavy oil into synthetic fuel. The total
capacity of the projects is 600,000 b/d but the Energy Ministry ordered them
to reduce output earlier this year in line with Venezuela's pledged OPEC
production cut.
De Margerie said he did not understand why the cut had been ordered from
Orinoco when other regions were not producing to capacity but he doubted it
was linked to the ongoing negotiations with the foreign oil companies.For more news, request a free trial to Platts Oilgram News at
http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=story
or subscribe now at
http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=1_29&products_id=29
Platts 29 05 07
Copyright© 2007 Platts. All Rights Reserved.
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