OREANDA-NEWS. July 23, 2008. y Moscow saw the signing of an Agreement on evaluation and certification of the Ayacucho-3 block reserves of the Orinoco Oil Belt in the presence of Dmitry Medvedev, the President of Russia and Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela.

Pursuant to the Agreement Gazprom’s subsidiary, Gazprom Latin America B.V., will jointly with Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA) complete geological modeling, evaluation and assessment of the block’s reserves before the end of 2008 to be subsequently certified by an independent auditor.

A decision was also adopted to launch the preparation of an investment feasibility study for the development of the heavy oil field located in this area.

At the negotiations the Venezuelan party also expressed its interest in Gazprom’s participation in the Delta Caribe Oriental liquefied natural gas project, which includes the Mariscal Sucre and Platforma del Tanа fields development as well as construction of an LNG plant in Venezuela.

Additionally, the parties discussed the progress with implementing the Rafael Urdaneta project and opportunities for the companies’ cooperation in the gas infrastructure construction in Venezuela.