By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Nov. 20 -- ChevronTexaco Corp. has begun production from Hamaca field in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt.
The $1 billion development project includes a crude upgrader, now under construction.
Hamaca is producing 30,000 b/d of 8.5°-gravity oil, which is blended with lighter crudes and sold internationally.
The 657-sq km Hamaca area contains more than 30 billion bbl of oil; over the project's 34-year life span, 2.1 billion can be produced, the partners estimate.
The upgrade unit, at the Jose Industrial Complex on the northern coast of Venezuela, will be brought on-stream in early 2004. That unit will upgrade the Hamaca project's production to 26°-gravity crude.
At peak field production of 190,000 b/d, the upgrading process will yield 180,000 b/d of 26°-gravity oil.
Other partners in the project are Petroleos de Venezuela SA and Phillips Petroleum Co.
The Hamaca partners secured $1.1 billion in project financing in June 2001 (OGJ Online, June 24, 2001).
