Venezuela's PDVSA, Spain's Repsol agree to revive oil joint venture
(Reuters) - Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and joint venture partner Repsol on Monday signed an agreement amending the original terms of a project in the country, aiming to revive its crude and gas output.
The agreement for production joint venture Petroquiriquire, which includes the fields Quiriquire, Mene Grande and Barua-Motatan, was signed in Caracas by Venezuela's oil minister Pedro Tellechea and executives from Repsol.
"We are going to lift production. We have completed the planning of the agreements we are signing. They all have output forecasts and plans for operation expansions," Tellechea said.
PDVSA and Chevron last week received approval from the country's National Assembly to extend two separate joint ventures for 15 years.
The changes to the Petroquiriquire operating agreement were not immediately disclosed. The United States in October temporarily lifted oil sanctions on the South American country, allowing exports, imports and investments through April.
The joint venture, in which PDVSA has a 60% interest and Repsol the remaining 40%, operates in several areas of the country, including the Monagas North region. Its total production has been about 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and 40 million cubic feet per day of gas so far this year, according to independent calculations.
Tellechea also said Venezuela continues working to ramp up crude output towards a 1 million bpd goal.
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