Petrobras & Venezuela Delay New Refinery Again.

WSJOURNAL/
Petrobras and Venezuela's Petroleos de Venezuela SA are having difficulties launching a troubled refinery joint venture, with the final agreement for the Abreu e Lima refinery in Brazil's Pernambuco state delayed again.
Lula da Silva and Hugo Chavez were expected to sign the deal over the weekend. But the failure was just another in a long line of delays, cost increases and controversies to weigh on the refinery in Brasil's Northeast.
"The project has been saddled with cost overruns and allegations of overcharges. Brazil's Senate started an inquiry into the refinery deal after allegations of fraud were uncovered by a separate police investigation."

Venezuela's Oil Reserves Increasingly For The Desperate.

THE ECONOMIST.COM.
"Three times this year Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) has postponed bidding for seven blocks in the Orinoco which officials think would yield 1 million barrels per day of synthetic oil. The reason: the terms on offer are even stiffer than those being contemplated by Brazil’s government and the uncertainty is even greater. '

Russians Propose Joint Oil Venture With Venezuela In Orinoco.

BLOOMBERG.

A group of Russian oil companies proposes joining Petroleos de Venezuela in a 40-year joint venture to spend $30 billion in Venezuela’s Orinoco region.