Statoil and the state-owned company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) have signed a memorandum of understanding, with a view to increasing oil production from a field in Lake Maracaibo.
The plan is to increase oil production from the field in question, Ceuta Area 2 Sur, through the use of new well technology. In the first phase Statoil and PDVSA will, through joint studies, assess the possibilities of increasing production from the current level of 18,000 barrels per day.
According to Statoil's project manager Ole Preben Berget, the field is technically challenging.
"The first study phase is estimated to take three to four months, and we will start the work together with PDVSA immediately," says Mr Berget.
The deal was signed in Caracas on 31 October by Ludovico Nicklas, head of PDVSA's E&P division and Staffan Riben, Statoil's retiring country manager in Venezuela.
Also present at the signing were Richard Hubbard, Statoil's executive vice president for International Exploration & Production, and Marcel Kramer, the new country manager for Venezuela as of 1 November.