Russian oil group Rosneft is strengthening its activities in Venezuela. The group and Venezuela's national oil and gas company PDVSA have signed Heads of Agreement to establish a 50-50 joint venture for the implementation of a large-scale project for gas production, treatment and sale at the offshore fields Patao, Mejillones and potentially Rio Caribe in Venezuela. The companies will perform the in-depth feasibility study of the project. The three fields are expected to produce up to 25 mcm/d (9.1 bcm/year).
Rosneft owns stakes in five upstream projects, namely Carabobo-2,4 (40% Rosneft), PetroMonagas (16.7% Rosneft), Boqueron (40% Rosneft), Junin-6 (JV PetroMiranda) and Petroperija.
In addition, Rosneft will raise its stake in the Petromonagas joint venture with PDVSA, from the current 16.67% (83.33% owned by PDVSA) to 40%. In 2015, Petromonagas produced 7.7 Mt of crude oil in Venezuela; the joint venture plans to boost production by introducing state-of-the-art technologies and raising E&P management efficiency.