On Friday (2 April) Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin made his first ever trip to Venezuela, securing bilateral economic and political ties.
IHS Global Insight
Perspective
Significance: Highlighting the growing
importance of bilateral relations, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin made
his first ever official visit to Venezuela on Friday (2 April), only days after
the Russian capital, Moscow, was hit by a major terrorist attack.
Implications: The visit is a boost for the increasingly embattled Venezuelan
president Hugo Chávez. Putin's visit raises his international profile, while an
accord between PDVSA, Venezuela's state-run oil company, and a Russian
consortium to develop the massive Junín 6 oilfield provides much-needed
investment in the Venezuelan energy sector.
Outlook: Ties between Russia, Venezuela, and other far-left regimes in the
region are set to grow further on the back of shared economic and geopolitical
interests, but Russian involvement in the region is unlikely to move
substantially beyond the energy and military sectors.
Oil Deal
Venezuela and Russia
have boosted bilateral relations during a visit to the South American country
by Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, with the signing of 31 new
co-operation accords in matters of energy, defence, trade, infrastructure,
education, and culture, among others. Russia and Venezuela would become more
united every day, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez said following the meeting
on Friday (2 April), while Putin hailed the accords as steps towards a
"more democratic, balanced, and multipolar" world. The most import
accord was in the energy area, where Putin's visit effectively cemented a deal
under which a Russian consortium will join the Venezuelan state oil company
PDVSA in developing the Junín 6 Block in the Orinoco heavy oil belt. Under the
terms of the agreement, a Russian consortium made up of LUKoil, Rosneft,
Gazprom, TNK-BP, and Surgutneftegaz will take a 40% stake in a mixed company,
while Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA will control the remaining 60%.
On Friday, Russian companies handed over an advance US$600 million of the
US$1-billion signature bonus. The formal institution of the Petromiranda joint
venture (JV) could be completed later this week, once President Chávez signs a
presidential decree to transfer the right to conduct primary activities to the
mixed company.
Venezuelan officials
hope that production from Junín 6, which has reserves estimated
(optimistically) at 53 billion barrels, will reach 50,000 barrels per day (b/d)
later this year. However, Orinoco crude is extra heavy and must be processed
before it can be refined. The new Venezuelan–Russian JV is also expected to
build an upgrader facility, with output capacity of as much as 450,000 b/d. The
commitment of both sides to further expand energy ties was also evident in a
letter of agreement signed by Venezuelan's oil and energy minister Rafael
Ramírez and the Russian consortium, paving the way for possible Russian
involvement in the Ayacucho 2, Ayacucho 3, and Junín 3 blocks, which are also
in the Orinoco belt. There was also more talk of Russia supporting Venezuelan
ambitions to build a nuclear power plant for a civilian energy programme, a
matter that has already been the object of a 2008 co-operation agreement.
Growing Relations
Ties between Russia
and Venezuela have been growing over recent years on the back of shared
geopolitical and economic interests, converting Russia into an important player
in the Venezuelan energy sector and making Venezuela one the largest clients of
the Russian military industry. Since 2005, Venezuela has purchased Russian
military equipment to the tune of US$4.4 billion, and following President
Chávez's visit to Russia last September, the South American country was granted
another US$2.2-billion credit line for military hardware and equipment . Within
the region, Russian involvement is strongest in Venezuela, but by no means
limited to it. On Friday, Chávez and Putin were joined in the Venezuelan
capital, Caracas, by Bolivian president Evo Morales, who asked the Russian
leader to "relaunch" bilateral relations. In an effort to bolster
bilateral ties, a Bolivian delegation will travel to Russia later this month
for negotiations on possible Russian investments in its energy sector. Bolivia
is also interested in a US$100-million loan to modernise armed forces and to
buy a new presidential jet, say press reports. Putin's visit to Venezuela also
comes on the back of last month's trip to Russia by Guatemalan president Álvaro
Colom .
Outlook and
Implications
Prime Minister Putin's
visit to Venezuela is a shot in the arm for the increasingly embattled
President Chávez, raising the latter's international profile at a time when he
is under heavy fire for alleged links between illegal armed groups and
Venezuelan government officials, as well as for repeated crackdowns on critical
media outlets .The symbolic importance of the visit is underscored by the fact
that Putin still went ahead with his planned trip to Venezuela despite the fact
that the Russian capital, Moscow, had been hit by a major terrorist attack only
days before. On the economic level, the addition of the 450,000 b/d of heavy
Orinoco crude from the Junín 6 field would provide a major boost to Venezuela's
ailing oil production.
More
broadly, the visit is in line with the wider Russian policy aim to increase its
presence in South America, a region of traditional U.S. influence. The growing
Russian interest in the region has allowed some Latin American countries to
diversify economic and political linkages, while also paving the way for
much-needed foreign investment in the energy sector, a development that has not
failed to raise eyebrows in the U.S. government. Nevertheless, although there
are signs that Russian involvement in the region could grow beyond the military
and energy sectors to include mining and other extractive industries, the
depths of co-operation with Russia have so far failed to live up to the
dramatic, geopolitical rhetoric that often accompanies state visits.
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09/05/2006| |
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03/05/2006| |
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03/05/2006| |
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03/05/2006| |
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03/05/2006| |
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18/02/2006| |
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04/02/2006| |
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04/02/2006| |
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29/01/2006| |
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23/09/2005| |
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