Oil rig on the Maracaibo Lake, Venezuela. Photo: Jose Isaac Bula Urrutia / Gettyimages.ru.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Yván Gil, announced that the state oil company PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela, SA) and the Russian state-owned energy corporation Gazprom plan to carry out new projects in the field of gas exploration and exploitation.
During an interview with the Russian agency RIA Novosti, the Venezuelan diplomat said that his country is certifying “what could be and will surely be the fourth largest natural gas reserve in the world.” “Not only do we have the largest oil reserves, but we are going to have the fourth largest gas reserve,” he stated.
Gil said that the Gazprom company has already worked on several projects in Venezuela “that have been in some way affected by the [illegal US] sanctions regime.”
“However, we have been exploring a new phase of cooperation. Above all, it has to do with the exploration and exploitation of new gas fields that will be defined in the coming weeks,” he said. According to him, Gazprom leaders have been meeting with the PDVSA board to define “precisely what are the terms of agreement for their participation” in these necessary projects.
“Venezuela can supply all that gas that is currently missing in the market, since we have this important reserve,” he stressed.
This Thursday, November 16, Gil met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow. During the meeting, the Venezuelan minister explained that relations between Russia and Venezuela “are currently going through their best period.” “Venezuela reaffirms its willingness to continue working on bilateral and multilateral levels with the government of the Russian Federation,” he added.
(RT)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/DZ/BLA
