Venezuela's Orinoco Oil Too Heavy At Current Price?

摘要

Caracas (Reuters) - Oil executives around the world perked up when Venezuela announced more than a year ago that it would open the door to some of the world's largest hydrocarbon reserves with its first tender in a over a decade. At the time, crude prices were still rising on their way to record highs. But since then, sharply lower oil prices have exposed the high cost of developing the Orinoco belt of extra heavy oil, throwing into doubt the bidding process for seven blocks in the so-called Carabobo project. Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez confirmed last week the tender had been postponed indefinitely. Interested companies had requested more time to study the project, he said.