Repsol begins development of Perla field, Venezuela

Repsol Chairman, Antonio Brufau, Eni Chairman, Paolo Scaroni, and the Venezuelan Minister of Popular Power for Oil and Mining Rafael Ramirez signed the natural gas supply agreement for the Perla field development.

The Perla super-giant field, which contains over 16.3 trillion cubic feet of gas in place, equivalent to approximately 3 billion barrels of oil, was discovered by Repsol and Eni in 2009 in the Cardon IV block, and is located 50 miles offshore in shallow water of the Gulf of Venezuela.

Since the discovery, a total of five gas wells have been drilled, which will now be put into production using offshore platforms and underwater connections which will carry the gas onshore, where it will be processed and sent through the Venezuelan distribution network.

The project will be developed in phases, with the first phase entailing an estimated investment of $1.5 billion, including the exploration and evaluation phase in which 300 million cubic feet/day of gas is expected to be produced. In the next two phases, production is set to rise fourfold to 1.2 billion cubic feet/day, which will be maintained until the end of the contract in 2036.

The supply contract, signed until 2036, with a mutual commitment to supply and purchase over 8 TCF of natural gas, will be one of the supply sources for the domestic gas demand in Venezuela, which is expected to grow along with industrial, petrochemical and power generation consumption in the coming years. Given its large size, the field also offers new opportunities for natural gas exports, which Repsol and Eni will analyze with PDVSA and the Ministry of Popular Power for Oil and Mining.

The license for the Cardon IV block was awarded to Repsol and Eni at 50% each. Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, will participate with a 35% share in the development of the project, with Repsol and Eni's shares at 32.5% each.

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Venezuela imposed on windfall tax on oil prices

CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuela is over 40 dollars a barrel, about $16 billion by foreign oil companies a windfall profits tax on royalty payments from oil projects imposing if crude oil prices are seeking squeeze that Government said Tuesday.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said that the tax last week decided by President Hugo Chavez, allows the Government to collect between $9 billion dollars and $16.3 billion this year.

A 20 percent tax in force will be, if the price of a barrel of oil is Venezuelan $40 to $70 a barrel, said Ramirez. If the price between $70 and $90 is, the tax will rise to 80 percent. Between $90 and $100 which reached 90% tax, and if the price is $100 per barrel tops, 95 percent tax imposed on one.

The price of Venezuela's heavy, sulphur-laden crude reached $94.60 per barrel on Tuesday, said Ramirez.

The tax on State oil company of Venezuela, as well as belt imposed foreign oil companies in the oil rich Orinoco River Venezuela, said Ramirez.

Remains of Venezuelan crude over $90 in 2011, is an estimated $9 billion in a development fund channeled be, Ramirez, said. If Venezuela's oil prices up, could an estimated $110 $16.3 billion be collected.

Ramirez said revenue from the tax is not used for investment in the oil industry, but rather in social programs and projects of the Government will be channelled to the improvement of health care, education, housing, agriculture and infrastructure.

"A powerful tool, which the State designed to earn revenue windfall," said Ramirez.

He denied, that the Fund projects the State claimed Governors and mayors as a critic of some Government launched would exclude.

Ramirez said the tax imposed on journalists are, projects will focus not on "the development of new oil fields" increase in oil production and agreements such as Petrocaribe program that provides oil and gas to some Latin American and Caribbean countries at preferential prices.

It also does not want to assign a contract signed last year between Venezuela and China, among which Venezuela oil of the Asian giants in exchange for were and services, ships, said Ramirez. Under the terms of this agreement, China borrowed $20 billion in exchange for shipments of 100,000 barrels per day over a period of 10 years after Venezuela.

Ramirez, who is also President of Venezuela the State, oil company PDVSA, called, said the company debts to contractors has more than $4 billion.

PDVSA is negotiating with the owners of the 74 oilfield service company for compensation after the Government expropriated the companies in 2009. Ramirez, said that negotiations slowly have been, because authorities, that some of the companies is believe failed to pay taxes. If talks break, the disputes are Venezuelan dishes, settled are saying.

PDVSA is waiting for a ruling by the World Bank International Centre for settlement of investment disputes in a dispute with Exxon Mobil Corp. the case was brought by the Irving, Texas-based company in the year 2007 of the Government heavy oil Cerro Negro nationalization of the project.

Exxon Mobil has tried also recover increased royalties and taxes by the Government in 2004. Exxon Mobil Oil project was one of four of Chavez Government adopted in May 2007, as the oil industry under majority State control brought.

(This version CORRECTS pay money billion instead of millions in paragraph 2).

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