Venezuelan oil producer, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA will use Chinese capital to fund its Orinoco field output.
The PDVSA Headquarters Image: PDVSA |
The state-owned oil producer revealed it has signed a $4.02bn loan agreement with the China Development Bank Corp, with a view to increasing production at the Sinovensa heavy oil venture.
PDVSA operates the joint venture with several Chinese companies, including China National Petroluem Corp (CNPC which owns a 35.75% stake in Sinovensa.
The loan deal will be used to fund production improvements in the joint venture’s production facilities in the Orinoco belt, which are expected to produce up to 1m barrels-per-day by the end of 2019.
PDVSA is aiming to increase total Venezuelan production to 6m bpd by 2019, from the current 2.91m bpd output. It will also manage $6bn in loans from CNPC and Chevron Corp in order to boost production.