Vagit
Alekperov, President of OAO LUKOIL, and Rafael Ramirez Carreño, President of PDVSA, State Petroleum Company of Venezuela,
signed an Agreement on Joint Study of Junin-3 block in the Orinoco heavy oil
belt (Guarico state, Venezuela). The Agreement was signed in Moscow today in the
presence of the leaders of the Russian Federation and Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela Dmitry Medvedev and Hugo Chavez Frias.
A
joint study will be performed to evaluate the project pertaining to production
of extra heavy oil, its further refining on the territory of Venezuela and
exporting. Expenses for the study will be shared by the parties on an equal
basis. The Agreement will be effective for two years with a possibility of
extension.
The
previous agreement on Junin-3 was signed by LUKOIL and PDVSA on October 12, 2005
for the term of three years.
Obligations under this agreement, related to quantitative assessment and
certification of heavy oil reserves in the area of 678 square kilometers, have
been fully discharged. The results
of these studies were certified by Ryder Scott, an independent engineering
company, and officially approved by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum of
Venezuela.
«Signing
of the new agreement is an important stage in the development of our
co-operation with Venezuela, which has a strategic format for the development of
the Company’s international activity», Vagit Alekperov
said.
