Peter Howard Wertheim
OGJ Correspondent
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar. 13 -- State-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) reported the start of drilling for natural gas in Venezuela's Cojedes state under a joint venture with Petroleos de Venezuela SA.
A Saxon Energy Services Inc. rig rated to 15,000 ft is drilling the well at La Blanca near the town of Romulo Gallegos.
Petrobras and PDVSA are drilling the well under an agreement concluded last year to cooperate in three exploration and production projects in Venezuela, including the offshore Mariscal Sucre gas project, a project in the Orinoco Belt, and this project of drilling in five old oil fields—Adas, La Paz, Lido, Limon, and Nieblas.
At Mariscal Sucre, the companies are committed to the creation of a joint venture for the estimated $2.2 billion development of four gas fields—Dragon, Mejillones, Patao, and Rio Caribe. Previously, PDVSA had said it would be developing the Mejillones and Rio Caribe fields, but these are now included in the project with Petrobras.
In addition to the Mariscal Sucre project, Petrobras is to appraise and certify reserves in Orinoco's Carabobo heavy oil field in preparation for development. Production is expected to be about 150,000 b/d of oil.
