Jun 2008 - OPEC

Visits
OPEC bulletin 6/08
6
Venezuelan Ministry of Energy & Petroleum
Above: Abdalla Salem El-Badri, OPEC Secretary General, with Rafael Ramirez, Venezuelan Minister of Energy and Petroleum.
Importance of data
In a separate briefing to Rafael Ramirez, Minister of
Energy and Petroleum and President of the state oil
company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), at the
Ministry’s headquarters, El-Badri informed the Minister
that the Secretariat is pleased with the comprehensiveness
and timeliness of the data it has been receiving
from Venezuela.
A presentation by Fuad Al-Zayer, Head of the OPEC
Secretariat’s Data Services Department, highlighted the
importance of data collection to the Secretariat’s research
efforts. He noted that there are discrepancies between
data received from direct communication with Venezuela
and those from secondary sources and advised on the
need to bridge the gap. The meeting acknowledged that
secondary sources may not be accessing all the data
sources they need to, in order to have comprehensive
and correct figures, partly because they do not even try,
and partly because some of them are biased. The Minister
emphasized Venezuela’s willingness, at all times, to cooperate
with secondary sources that are objective. They were
ready to see for themselves what is available, so that the
discrepancies can be minimized.
In a briefing to the Secretariat’s delegation at PDVSA’s
research and development headquarters, INTEVEP, Luis
Verma, Vice President, Exploration, said Venezuela is
poised to raise its oil production capacity and proven oil
reserves as it develops the Faja Petrolifera del Orinoco
Oil Basin, which covers 55,000 square kilometres of
land, and where only one-fifth of the area is currently
under exploitation. With an estimated 1.36 trillion barrels
of reserve, the area currently produces 600,000 b/d
of oil in joint ventures with various foreign companies.
PDVSA alone produces 100,000 b/d. Of the 1.36tr b of
estimated reserve, 88.6bn b are proven. Work on certification
continues at 21 projects. The target of PDVSA is
to have a proven reserve of 235bn b by October 2009,
with an average recovery rate of 20 per cent.
The development of the Orinoco Oil Basin has been
carried out in four phases. The first phase, or the phase of
discovery, was from 1935 to 1940. Then came the period
of inactivity, which lasted from 1950 to 1970. Phase three
is that of exploration and it lasted from 1975 to 1985. And
the period from 1990 to date is described as the phase
of strategic association.