PDVSA Inks $1.45 Bln in Financing to Boost Oil Output

 

DP Delta Finance, led by the owner of local oil producer Delta Petroleum, will provide $1.13 billion in financing to boost output at a joint venture between PDVSA and Delta Petroleum, PDVSA said.

 

ONGC will provide $318 million to finance increased crude production at the joint venture Petrolera Indovenezolana, S.A., where it holds a 40 percent stake alongside PDVSA.

 

"In the middle of the worst crisis of low (oil) prices in the last four decades, ... financing agreements signed by state oil companies are an unequivocal demonstration of their capacity and resources," the government said in a statement.

 

Delta Petroleum last month became a partner in the Petrodelta joint venture with PDVSA after buying out Houston-based Harvest Natural Resources, which had for years been seeking to exit Venezuela.

 

PDVSA plans to boost production at Petrodelta, which is 40 percent owned by Delta Petroleum, to 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the current 40,000 bpd over the next five years.

 

The financing from ONGC is seen boosting output at the San Cristobal field, operated by the joint venture Petrolera Indovenezolana, to 40,000 bpd from the current 20,000 bpd. ONGC holds 40 percent of that joint venture.

 

The OPEC nation's oil output has slipped this year as low crude prices and an economic crisis have left it struggling to obtain resources for investment in its oilfields, which hold the world's largest petroleum reserves.

 

Despite Friday's announcement, President Nicolas Maduro frequently accuses foreign investors of mounting a "financial blockade" against his socialist government, which he says is also victim of an "economic war."

 

PDVSA says the company has in the last two years signed $10.7 billion in financing deals to boost output in the coming years by 435,000 barrels per day across eight joint ventures.