CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Venezuela could shelve plans to build refineries in Nicaragua and Ecuador as part of a review of oil projects.
"We are reviewing oil projects overseas, among them the [refinery] investments in Nicaragua and Ecuador," said Eulogio Del Pino, a vice president for Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA.
Del Pino said the review of possible projects to shelve given much lower oil prices won't include any natural gas ventures, since investment in those is much too advanced. A joint investment in a Brazilian refinery with Brazil's government won't be interrupted either, he added.
Venezuela is facing a difficult road ahead with it's investment plans as oil prices have dropped dramatically in recent months.
The Andean country is calling for members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output again by 1 million barrels a day before the end of the year to prop up prices.
Del Pino said that if OPEC moves to cut output once more by 1 million barrels, Venezuela's share would be a 90,000 barrel cut.
Almost 70,000 barrels of that would be reduced from the heavy oil operations of its Petropiar upgrader in the Orinoco basin, said Del Pino, by performing an early maintenance shut-down.
-By Raul Gallegos, Dow Jones Newswires; +58-414-120-5738; raul.gallegos@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 27, 2008 18:26 ET (23:26 GMT)

Publié le 28 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones