By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 5 -- Total SA signed two joint study agreements with Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) to appraise extraheavy oil reserves and assess a production project for Block Junin10 in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt.
The 600 sq km Junin 10 block is located southwest of an area developed by Sincor, the heavy oil venture in which Total, PDVSA and StatoilHydro AS are partners. Sincor is being transformed into a mixed company called PetroCedeno, in which Total will hold a 30.323% stake.
PDVSA earlier agreed to pay its partners with a combination of crude and cash for their reduced stakes in the nationalized Sincor project. However, Total and StatoilHydro must pay some $130 million of their compensation as a "bonus" to fund the PetroCedeno venture (OGJ Online, Feb. 1, 2008).
