NEW DELHI, March 16 (UPI) -- A consortium of Indian energy companies announced said it would purchase 45 percent of the crude oil produced by its partners in Venezuela.
The offshore arm of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. led an international consortium with a February bid to develop crude oil blocks in the Orinoco belt in Venezuela.
Oil deposits in Venezuela are the largest outside the Middle East. Most of the Orinoco oil belt remains undeveloped, drawing international investors to the region.
India's Reliance Industries Ltd. and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Limited agreed to purchase 45 percent of the oil produced from its partners working in Venezuela, Indian newspaper The Hindu reports.
The consortium said it plans to spend $8.8 billion to develop the oil fields in Venezuela and another $12 billion on upgrades.
The upgrades will convert the heavy oil in the Orinoco belt into a synthetic crude oil product.
