Venezuela Eyes France As Oil Partner
MSN Money - Associated Press Business News: Venezuela Eyes France As Oil Partner
PARIS (AP) - France's Total has a vital role in Venezuelan oil projects and will continue to play a major role as part of a "strategic alliance" between Paris and the South American country, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Thursday.
Chavez noted that under a new law, Venezuela has begun revising its contracts with foreign companies to increase taxes and royalties.
"We are in dialogue, bringing our positions closer together," Chavez told a news conference.
He said details were being worked out in private, "but what I assure France and its interests on this issue is that Total will continue in Venezuela, and not only in Sincor I" -- a major heavy crude project in the Orinoco tar belt.
Total is a partner in the Sincor project with Norway's Statoil and Venezuela's state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has accused the companies involved in the project of drilling beyond the boundaries set in their contract and extracting more oil than agreed.
"We have reported some deviations (from contract terms) with respect to Sincor I," Ramirez said in Caracas on Thursday.
He added that the extent to which Total and Statoil move forward with the second phase of the project in eastern Venezuela, known as Sincor II, will depend on their development of the first phase, known as Sincor I.
Chavez said he hopes to create a "strategic alliance with France" through oil, and that support from Total is "indispensable."
"We are going to talk with Total to keep advancing with the agreement Sincor I, making it better and perfecting it, and Sincor II, to double production and improve our wells in the Orinoco tar belt," Chavez said.
"A Total-PDVSA alliance is a fundamental factor of the alliance between France and Venezuela," said Chavez, who also met with French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday.
Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter and a major supplier to the United States.
PARIS (AP) - France's Total has a vital role in Venezuelan oil projects and will continue to play a major role as part of a "strategic alliance" between Paris and the South American country, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Thursday.
Chavez noted that under a new law, Venezuela has begun revising its contracts with foreign companies to increase taxes and royalties.
"We are in dialogue, bringing our positions closer together," Chavez told a news conference.
He said details were being worked out in private, "but what I assure France and its interests on this issue is that Total will continue in Venezuela, and not only in Sincor I" -- a major heavy crude project in the Orinoco tar belt.
Total is a partner in the Sincor project with Norway's Statoil and Venezuela's state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has accused the companies involved in the project of drilling beyond the boundaries set in their contract and extracting more oil than agreed.
"We have reported some deviations (from contract terms) with respect to Sincor I," Ramirez said in Caracas on Thursday.
He added that the extent to which Total and Statoil move forward with the second phase of the project in eastern Venezuela, known as Sincor II, will depend on their development of the first phase, known as Sincor I.
Chavez said he hopes to create a "strategic alliance with France" through oil, and that support from Total is "indispensable."
"We are going to talk with Total to keep advancing with the agreement Sincor I, making it better and perfecting it, and Sincor II, to double production and improve our wells in the Orinoco tar belt," Chavez said.
"A Total-PDVSA alliance is a fundamental factor of the alliance between France and Venezuela," said Chavez, who also met with French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday.
Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter and a major supplier to the United States.
posted by Marcel at 11:44 AM
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