CARACAS-United States-based Chevron expects to start production in September 2012 from an oil field in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt, a company executive said. Chevron holds 34 per cent of Carabobo Project 3, with 60 per cent in the hands of state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA and the remainder held by Venezuelan and Japanese firms. "It is possible there could be production next year. We will have output of 50,000 barrels per day from Carabobo in September 2012," Ali Moshiri, Chevron's president of exploration in Africa and Latin America, said in an interview appearing last Sunday in Caracas daily El Universal.
"Technically, we're ready, but there needs to be investment," he said, indicating that the US oil major is awaiting a commitment from PDVSA. "We think we have the technology and human resources, like PDVSA, to work together and begin this project," Moshiri told the Venezuelan newspaper. The Chevron executive said he was in Caracas for talks with Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, who is also PDVSA's chief executive, on the next steps for Carabobo 3. "PDVSA is very strong and has sufficient financing, and there are good relations between PDVSA and Chevron," Moshiri said. "Now is the time to make the decision about how we are going to do this. That is the only thing that is missing."
Once production begins at Carabobo 3, Chevron is capable of boosting output by an additional 50,000-100,000 bpd every two years, the executive said. The Orinoco Belt, according to the US Geological Survey, is the world's largest petroleum reserve with more than 500 billion barrels of recoverable extra-heavy crude, which is more expensive to refine than lighter varieties of oil. Venezuelan officials estimate the potential output of Carabobo 3 at between 400,000-480,000 bpd by 2016.
Asked about President Hugo Chavez's recent decision to impose windfall-profit taxes on private oil companies, Moshiri said the move would not affect Chevron's current projects in Venezuela.
"But in the future, when we want to make a decision on Venezuela, we will consider this tax and see if it is competitive or not with other developments," he said in the interview with El Universal. Venezuela, a founding member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is the world's fifth-leading oil exporter and a key supplier of crude to the United States.
(Latin Petroleum)