Venezuela and Russia Meet to Strengthen Energy Sector Ties

Venezuela has "the largest reserve of hydrocarbons in the world and, from that point of view, any oil company should aspire to work in this country."

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has met with representatives from Russia's state-owned oil company, Rosneft, to strengthen bilateral ties in the energy and gas sector.

The meeting, which took place Saturday in Maiquetia, in the Venezuelan state of Vargas, honored a promise made by Maduro in July.

"In the second semester, important documents will be signed to expand bilateral investments between Russian oil and gas companies and our PDVSA," the Venezuelan president told Russia Today at the time.

Meanwhile, Rosneft President Igor Sechin has asserted in multiple media interviews that the oil company intends to continue working with the Latin American nation's state-controlled Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), steadily increasing levels of cooperation over time.

"As I repeated on several occasions, we will never leave; no one can expel us, we will work with Venezuela and we will increase the levels of our cooperation," Sechin has said.

Venezuela has "the largest reserve of hydrocarbons in the world and, from that point of view, any oil company should aspire to work in this country."

The meeting was attended by Venezuela's Minister for Oil Manuel Quevedo, and Minister for Agricultural Production Wilmar Castro Soteldo.

Rosneft and PDVSA are partners in five joint ventures: Petromonagas; Petromiranda; Boqueron; Petroperija, and Petrovictoria.

During the course of 15 years of cooperative relations between Venezuela and Russia, more than 260 agreements have been signed in areas such as medicine, tourism, agriculture, mining and oil.

In October, Maduro traveled to Moscow in Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin in person, taking the opportunity to thank Putin for his support in "difficult times."

"I thank you for all the support, political and diplomatic, in difficult times which we are living through," Maduro told Putin at talks in the Kremlin.

"I'm very thankful for the agreement on grain, it has helped keep consumption in Venezuela stable."