Benton Oil & Gas Co. in Oxnard said Venezuela's national oil company has granted Benton and its joint-venture partner, the Venezuelan construction company Vinccler CA, the right to further develop three oil fields in Venezuela.
The joint venture will make all investments needed to reactivate the fields and will receive an undisclosed fee for each barrel of crude oil produced, Benton said. Initial production should begin by mid-1993, it added.
Benton said it will be responsible for all operations and have a 60% interest in the joint venture, with Vinccler having a 40% stake.
The award from Venezuela's national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, is part of an overall field-reactivation program--begun last year--that consists of 55 oil fields. It marks the first time that foreign companies are being allowed a direct interest in Venezuelan oil development since the country's oil industry was nationalized in 1975.
