Venezuelan Oil Minister Pedro Tellechea (left) and Maurel & Prom Iberoamérica President Olivier de Langavant (right) shake hands after the signing of an oil production agreement between PDVSA and the French company. Photo: Instagram/@pequivensa.
Venezuelan state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) signed an agreement this week with French company Maurel & Prom to increase oil and gas production in Lake Maracaibo. This agreement comes after the temporary lifting of US sanctions from the Venezuelan oil industry. The agreement is designed to reactivate the joint venture Petroregional del Lago, located in the Urdaneta oil field in Zulia state.
Venezuelan Petroleum Minister and PDVSA CEO Rafael Tellechea stated that this agreement is very important to achieving the goals of increased production in the country, because “it will allow us to continue strengthening the development of the state-owned oil company for the growth of the national economy.”
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“We have signed a very important agreement for Maurel & Prom-PDVSA, a France-Venezuela joint venture,” Tellechea announced. “It is very important for the development of the Maracaibo Lake. These agreements will help us to increase production, which today is at 20-25,000 barrels per day, but according to our planning, in a short to medium time, production may increase to 50-60,000 barrels.”
PDVSA y la empresa francesa Maurel & Prom firmaron un primer acuerdo marco para incrementar la producción gasífera y petrolera en el Lago de Maracaibo. Con este acuerdo se reactiva la empresa mixta Petroregional del Lago, S.A., ubicada en el Campo Urdaneta del estado Zulia. pic.twitter.com/bhdbhUOr24
— PDVSA (@PDVSA) November 8, 2023
Tellechea further announced that a gas flaring project in the north of Monagas state is “almost ready.” This project includes joint ventures with the Spanish oil giant Repsol and the Italian Eni, with which PDVSA will sign agreements soon.
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The president of Maurel & Prom Iberoamérica, Olivier de Langavant, said that this agreement will “allow us to produce as much oil as possible” through a joint venture to which the company “is returning after 5 years.” de Langavant described this stage as “very important and extraordinary.”
He added that “the Venezuelan government has made enormous efforts to relaunch the oil industry with international scope, for the benefit of the country and the world.”
In October, the US government announced temporary lifting of a number of sanctions against Venezuela, including those on the country’s oil industry, after the signing of the Barbados agreement between the Venezuelan government and the opposition on electoral guarantees for the 2024 presidential elections.
(RedRadioVE) by Milena Bravo
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
