Russian oil major Rosneft to supply Urals oil blend to Venezuela

ST. PETERSBURG, June 18. /TASS/. Russian oil major Rosneft will supply Urals oil blend to Venezuela’s PDVSA under an export contract whose basic terms were signed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Rosneft said on Thursday. The contract signed for one year with an option of its extension for another three years envisages the companies’ joint analysis for the possible delivery of Urals oil to Venezuela for refining at PDVSA’s enterprises. In addition to the agreements signed in 2014, the implementation of the new contract will strengthen the companies’ cooperation in oil trading. The contract is advantageous for Rosneft as the Russian oil major will get a guaranteed channel of selling its products to the final customer while these supplies will also allow PDVSA to optimize the operation of its network of filling stations. The volumes and the price parameters of a possible deal will be specified during further negotiations. "The document that was signed will enable Rosneft to expand the international geography of oil resources supplies and get an optimal price offer for its products, which further strengthens our positions as a global player on the market of oil and petroleum products," Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said, commenting on the signing of the document. Venezuela earlier said the fall in world oil prices could be contained by supplying oil obtained from mixing the light crude of Algeria, Nigeria, Angola and Oman and Venezuela’s heavy oil extracted from oil sands. PDVSA believes that the oil blends supplied to the world market by Algeria, Nigeria, Oman and Angola have been replaced lately by the oil outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), including shale oil from the United States. Amid growing heavy oil output in the La Faja region in the Orinoco Oil Belt, this cooperation between OPEC countries is needed to keep oil prices at an acceptable level. Read more