By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, June 7 -- Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) has signed an operating agreement with a consortium of Williams, Tulsa, Enbridge Inc., Calgary, and Northville Industries Inc. for the oil storage and loading terminal at Jose complex in Anzoategui, Venezuela.
The agreement ratifies the basic conditions agreed to in the term sheet signed by PDVSA representatives and the consortium in January 2001.
Terms state PDVSA maintains ownership of the property assets and that the consortium will be responsible, during a period of 10 years, for providing personnel, maintenance, and operation of the terminal that loads the crude from projects in the Orinoco Belt.
These port facilities can handle up to 800,000 b/d of oil. The facilities are on a platform with berthing capacity for up to 34 ships/month.
The consortium has been operating the terminal since April 1999 as part of an interim agreement, while another contractual relationship was being negotiated. Throughout this time, the consortium has maintained a work force that is more than 90% Venezuelan.
Williams and Enbridge each own 45% interest with Northville owning 10%.
The agreement ends an earlier dispute regarding a $385 million contract signed in 1998 under which Enbridge and its partners were slated to buy the facility. After Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took office in February 1999, PDVSA terminated the deal to sell the facility (OGJ Online, Dec. 11, 2000).