Up Natural Gas Indus
2001-04-27 15:00 (New York)



   By Charles Roth
   Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

  Porlamar, MARGARITA (Dow Jones)--Venezuela is forging ahead with plans to 
develop its natural gas industry through a series of concessions involving 
both foreign and local companies. Industry officials reckon the effort should
generate up to $13 billion in investment over the next 10 years.
  The biggest push now underway in the "Gasification of the Nation" program 
is the awarding of 11 licenses for the exploration and production of non-oil 
associated gas in central-western Venezuela, a zone estimated to contain 6 
trillion to 20 trillion cubic feet in reserves. Of 34 companies that have 
qualified for the concessions, 26 are foreign.
  The government is also moving to open upoffshore exploration and 
production of free gas in the Paria and Plataforma Deltana regions in waters 
bordering northeast Venezuela, where officials suspect 40 Tcf to 60 Tcf are 
waiting to be discovered.
  Jose Pacheco, vice minister of energy, told Dow Jones Newswires that the 
government wants to start the pre-qualification process sometime this year.
  Trinidad, he said, has been aggressively tapping reserves in the area, some 
of which may extend into Venezuela territory. The government has been talking 
with authorities from the island to reach some understanding for the 
exploitation of the region, he said.
  Rafael Ramirez, president of Venezuela's gas regulator, said state-oil 
company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (E.PVZ) has allocated $200 million for 
exploration in the area. He noted that industry giants such