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China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) has reportedly signed a deal for the Boyaca 3 oil block in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt. Reports out of Caracas say the Chinese state giant inked the agreement following two days of talks with the Venezuelan government and state Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV).
A CNOOC spokesman declined to comment on the specifics of the deal. "We have only signed an MOU [memorandum of understanding] which covers three aspects -- offshore gas assessment and production, heavy oil production and offshore oil field services," he said, adding that there is no timetable for making the MOU binding.
PDV said in a statement Wednesday that the two firms had signed an agreement to quantify and certify reserves in Boyaca 3. Since 2006, a host of foreign companies, including China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and Sinopec, have been certifying reserves in the Orinoco Basin, with a view to subsequent development of some of...