Tehran, 27 July 2009 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Venezuela agreed to invest in the exploratory phases and developments of 12 oil blocks in Iran.

 

Iran's oil minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on the sideline of a seminar on compressed natural gas (CNG) industry in Tehran, on Sunday, that the Venezuelan counterpart has agreed to participate and invest in the preliminary stages of 12 oil blocks in Iran.

 

The Minister also said during the recent visit by a Venezuelan energy delegation to Tehran, the two sides agreed to combine their efforts for the development of energy projects in Venezuela. The two countries already work in the development of Avacucho oil field in the Orinoco zone north of Venezuela.

 

Iran and Venezuela agreed to invest $4 billion in their joint projects and Iran's leading petrochemical company 'Petropars', will develop the oil field in the Latin American country.

 

The Orinoco region has more than 55,000 square kilometers of oil resources which will give the Venezuelan state the control of an additional 600,000 barrels of oil per day. Venezuela currently produces 3.3 million barrels of oil per day, according to official figures.

 

By 2009, the Venezuela government hopes to certify that the Orinoco contains around 270 billion barrels of extractable oil with the use of modern technology. With that certification, Venezuela would have around 316 billion barrels of total reserves, placing it above Saudi Arabia as the country with the world’s largest oil reserves.