The preliminary development accord for the Mariscal Sucre project in northeast Venezuela was initialed by state-run Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Royal Dutch/Shell and Japan's Mitsubishi Corp.
It foresees the start of economic and technical feasibility studies for the project, designed to produce 4.7 million tonnes of LNG a year, with most of it destined for the US market.
"From 2007 onward, Venezuela is going to be a net exporter of gas," Venezuela's Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez said.
Ramirez later told reporters later the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, which controls the world's third largest natural gas reserves, was also negotiating with PDVSA for a stake in Mariscal Sucre. Negotiations were advanced, he added, without giving details.
At the weekend's ceremony, the government also handed over formal conditions and terms to British Gas Plc, Norway's Statoil and French outfit TotalFinaElf to explore and develop offshore natural gas blocks in Venezuela's northeast Deltana Platform. Britain's BP Plc was also involved in negotiations on another natural gas block.
Meanwhile in Argentina, its suffering citizens are set for more hardship after President Eduardo Duhalde signed a decree raising gas and electricity prices, saying the increase was needed to keep the utility companies solvent. The increase was part of a belt-tightening package demanded by the International Monetary Fund as a condition for further loans.
