We now know the answer to my question last week following China's $16 billion pledge for the Orinoco: which country will Hugo award that final development contract to? Reuters reported last night that the answer apparently is France, which takes the total investment in the Orinoco up to a grand total of $61 billion, above the $30-50 billion originally forecasted. Anyone surprised?
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Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has declared an oil price floor of $80 a barrel for PDVSA's budget planning. As Dow Jones reported yesterday:
The goal is to double oil production to 6 million barrels a day by 2030, Ramirez said.
Speaking at a heavy crude oil conference, Ramirez said current production in Venezuela stands at about 3 million barrels a day, but that by 2015 the government aims for production to reach 4.7 million barrels a day. By 2030, production could reach 6 million barrels a day, he added.
To reach these goals, Ramirez said state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela aims to "build a floor" on oil prices at $80 a barrel.
As of June 1 of this year, Bloomberg reported the following:
Investment spending will depend on oil prices, Hercilio Rivas, the company's research and development director, said today in an interview in Cartagena, Colombia. The company needs a "floor" of $70 a barrel to reach a target to pump 5 million barrels a day in 2020, up from 3 million today, he said.
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Colombia's Ecopetrol expects to resume natural gas deliveries to Venezuela after suspending exports last Friday. The suspension was not the result of political tensions but "technical factors", according to Ecopetrol.
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