China to keep Venezuela oil deals low-key

Venezuela and China signed a spate of new oil deals after a high-profile visit this week, but Chinese oil major CNPC plans to keep the relationship low-key until concrete progress is made, an official paper reported.

During Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez’s visit to China, the world’s number five oil exporter allocated state-controlled CNPC rights to survey a block in the Orinoco oil belt, Venezuela’s PDVSA, also a government-owned firm, said.

The two also signed a preliminary deal for a joint venture to develop fields in the eastern Zumano region, and discussed cooperating in technical areas like drill manufacture and heavy-crude handling, the firm added in a statement.

However the Chinese company seemed keen to play down the deals with a country known for ambitious development plans. Spokesman Liu Weijiang said only that they had been signed, China Daily reported.

Reuters