Venezuela, Russia agree on cooperation to develop Orinoco Oil Belt

CARACAS, January 16. /TASS/. Venezuela and Russia have reached an agreement to step up investment and participation of Russian companies in development of Orinoco Belt oil reserves and other projects, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The press service of the Venezuelan presidential administration cited the president as saying the step was part of a plan to protect the oil market and strengthen the strategic alliance with Russia in the energy sector. An agreement was also reached on investments in equipment to extract and refine oil. The two presidents discussed energy issues, trade, agricultural production, infrastructure development, housing, cultural cooperation and financing, the press service said. When meeting with Maduro on Thursday, Putin said Venezuela was a close friend and partner of Russia. Maduro assured that Venezuela would be always with Russia. Maduro said the Moscow meeting was successful. They decided to form a working group to discuss a two-year cooperation programme in Moscow in April. All the subjects will be studied again in Moscow, the president said. The Venezuelan deputy industry minister, who is appointed co-chairman of the group, plans to arrive in the Russian capital next week. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez and Russian Vice-Premier Dmitry Rogozin participated in the meeting of the working group, Maduro said. The Venezuelan president told Putin about results of his trip to OPEC countries. They discussed world market stabilization and the fall of oil prices. Maduro told the Russian president about his meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and an agreement with him to continue efforts to influence the oil market and restore the prices. Last week, the Venezuelan president visited OPEC member states and China and had talks with their leaders with the aim to continue efforts to restore world oil prices. On the way to China on January 5, the Venezuelan president’s plane landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport where he met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Russia and Venezuela are developing cooperation in various sectors, including military technical, energy and industrial cooperation and housing construction. Venezuela produces three million barrels of oil a day and exports 2.5 million, mainly to the United States and China. It is the world’s fifth oil exporter. The country has the world’s richest oil reserves estimated at almost 300 billion barrels. Most of the reserves are in the Orinoco Belt. Read more