“Current production in the [Orinoco Oil] Belt is at 1.158 million barrels per day between the areas of Carabobo, Ayacucho, Junín and Bocayá,” Venezuela’s oil and energy minister, Rafael Ramírez, said on Tuesday.
The announcement came after a meeting of the Supreme Organ for the Monitoring of the Oil Belt Plan at the headquarters of Petrocedeño, a joint venture under the Venezuelan oil firm PDVSA, located in the northeastern state of Anzoátegui. The meeting included members of of PDVSA’s board of directors and representatives of the firms operating in the Orinoco Oil Belt.
Among the issues discussed was the current availability of active drills dedicated exclusively to the development of new production areas in Carabobo and Junín, which today contribute 430,000 barrels and 265,000 barrels of oil respectively to overall production in the Orinoco Oil Belt and finance PDVSA’s diverse activities.
One of the achievements highlighted at the meeting was the creation of the joint venture Petromacareo, formed by PDVSA and its Vietnamese counterpart Petrovietnam. Petro macareo recently began drilling its first successful oil well, which is expected to begin producion this July and could have an output of 20,000 barrels per day by December.
Meanwhile, another project known as Petromiranda, a joint venture of PDVSA and Russian Consortium, is expected to begin in August and should produce 20,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. Drilling also began at Petrocarabobo, a PDVSA project with Spain’s Repsol, India’s ONGC and Malaysia’s Petronas, which is expected to produce 35,000 barrels a day.
3D seismic surveying is currently being carried out at the area assigned to Petromacareo with the participation of over one thousand workers in the central Venezuelan state of Guárico.
During Tuesday’s meeting, information was given about the functioning of a water treatment unit at PDVSA’s Petrocedeño facilities which will allow for the production of up to 60,000 barrels of sulfur-free crude oil lightened to an API gravity of 32°.
Minister Ramírez reiterated that the processes used to lighten crude oil at the complexes of Petroanzoátegui, Petropiar, Petrocedeño and Petromonagas are functioning normally, and that the Restoration Plan for Solids Management and the removal of impurities like sulfur is moving ahead, and is expected to finish its work in September.
Petróleos de Venezuela / Press Office – Embassy of Venezuela to the U.S. / January 25, 2012
