PDVSA sees future in consolidation with China
People’s Minister of Petroleum and President of Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), Eulogio Del Pino, spoke about the future of Venezuela’s oil and gas industry on a recent visit to a desalination plant, which is part of the Chinese-Venezuelan JV Sinovensa. Del Pino said he sees more cooperation with China as a means to grow the oil and gas industries in both countries.
Speaking of the reserves in the Orinoco oil belt, Del Pino said, “In this underground lies the energy that China needs for the future. Currently, we are sending 600 Mbpd of crude to China, and we expect to increase this trade to more than 1 MMbpd within the next years.”
Part of his vision for more cooperation is already underway in the form of a new refinery in China to process the crude PDVSA is sending to China. According to Del Pino, the project is in the advanced engineering phase.
In addition to the new refinery, Del Pino is planning a new terminal to handle the increased exports of crude.
“We expect to build a large-scale oil terminal in Araya, Sucre state, where the crude oil will be loaded in order to be shipped to China.”
Del Pino said that, in the past, it was considered a loss of profit to transport crude to China. However, the expansion of the Panama Canal will cut the cost of shipping and make the transportation of crude to Asia a reality.
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