CARACAS, Venezuela, April 1 (UPI) -- Moscow and Caracas signed a deal to form a joint venture to develop Venezuela's Junin-6 block in one of the largest fields outside the Middle East.
A joint venture between a Russian consortium and Venezuela's state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, aims to extract 50,000 barrels of oil per day from Junin-6 in 2010, Russia's state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reports Thursday.
Total extraction could ultimately reach 450,000 barrels per day.
Oil deposits in Venezuela are the some of largest outside the Middle East. Most of the Orinoco oil belt, which includes Junin-6, remains undeveloped and the region produces 600,000 barrels of oil per day currently.
PDVSA and the Russian consortium, which includes Gazprom and Anglo-Russian venture TNK-BP, signed a memorandum of understanding on the Junin-6 block in September. The Venezuelan government approved the measure March 10.
The deal for Junin-6 comes ahead of a visit to Caracas by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who meets Friday with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to explore energy and military equipment deals.
