CARACAS� PDVSA Gas, a unit of state oil corporation Petroleos de Venezuela SA, says it will soon sign an agreement with Houston-based Enron Corp. on a joint project to build a $600 million, 2.1 million tonne/year LNG plant at Jose in eastern Venezuela's Anzoategui state. Although PDVSA did not reveal a date for the signing, it said the plant would go on stream in 2004.
Part of the production from the plant will be used to produce propane and butane for export, said PDVSA. The firm estimates that the construction of the plant will lead to approximately $150 million in purchases of domestic goods and services and generate 1,600 new jobs.
The project was first announced in April (OGJ, Apr. 24, 2000, p. 21).
"The potential of this agreement coincides with the publication of the new gas law rules that regulate the conditions of the gas business in Venezuela and form part of PDVSA Gas�s strategy to incorporate Venezuela into the LNG market in the Atlantic and Caribbean basin, specifically the US East Coast, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Panama," said PDVSA.
The project is expected to go on stream a full year earlier than another, much larger planned LNG plant, the so-called Paria North LNG project�a $2 billion, 4 million tonne/year plant expected to tap gas reserves in the Gulf of Paria. That project is being undertaken by PDVSA, Mitsubishi Corp., Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and ExxonMobil Corp. (OGJ Online, May 16, 2000).