Orinoco Belt Foreign Operating Companies to Redefine Shareholding Structure in Venezuela

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). According to declarations by Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister and PDVSA’s President, Rafael Ramirez, foreign companies operating as PDVSA’s majority partners in the Orinoco Belt have to define a new shareholding structure on joint ventures by August 26, 2007.

On Monday May 1, 2007, following the path towards the nationalization of Venezuela’s resources to take complete control over the country's economy, President Hugo Chavez announced the nationalization of four projects that pump and upgrade around 400,000 barrels per day of heavy crude oil in the Orinoco Belt area. These undertakings are valued at more than $30 billion and pump heavy crude oil of 8 API to convert it into medium grade 32 API synthetic oil. To view more, see related May 10, 2007 news article - Venezuela’s Government Nationalizes Orinoco Belt Projects.

The Orinoco Belt Basin is a 55,314 square kilometer area located at the southern strip of the eastern Orinoco River Basin which holds one of the world's largest petroleum reserves. It contains 1.3 trillion barrels of extra-heavy hydrocarbons that could sum up 316 billion barrels and make Venezuela the biggest oil reserves bearer, followed by Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran and Iraq.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Total SA (NYSE:TOT), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) are the main companies operating in Orinoco Belt which will have to enter into Venezuela’s state-owned oil company’s dominated joint venture agreements by August 26, 2007.

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