Venezuela says delivers Carabobo oil auction terms

CARACAS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Venezuela delivered the final terms for the auction of the 1.2 million barrel-per-day Carabobo extra-heavy crude project late on Monday, a government source said, after long delays to its first tender in more than a decade.

"They were handed over last night close to midnight," the source, who has knowledge of the project, told Reuters.

Worried by lukewarm private sector interest in its first oil auction since the late 1990s, Venezuela recently said it was lowering taxes and extending the production timeline for the project.

The final conditions were softened slightly more to include all the previously announced sweeteners such as lower royalties, along with new incentives such as a longer period to pay starting bonuses for the project, the source said.

Companies including Britain's BP (BP.L: 行情) and U.S.-based Chevron (CVX.N: 行情) have been waiting for weeks for the final version of the terms, the first improvement in conditions for private oil under socialist President Hugo Chavez.

The massive heavy crude project will involve seven areas, each of which is expected to require an investment of between $10 billion and $20 billion. The goal is to raise Venezuela oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day by 2015.

Venezuela is due to accept offers for Carabobo in January, although such deadlines are frequently missed in South America's top oil exporter.

Other companies interested in the auction for minority interests in the three Carabobo joint-ventures include China's state oil company CNPC, France's Total (TOTF.PA: 行情), Italy's ENI (ENI.MI: 行情) and Portugal's Galp Energia (GALP.LS: 行情), as well as consortiums of Russian and Japanese businesses. [ID:nN06184958].

Other conditions offered include allowing the private companies to chose a greater number of executives in the ventures, which are to be controlled by Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA.

Venezuela want to increase output in its Orinoco tar-like crude belt to 2.8 million barrels over the next decade via Carabobo and the development of its Junin fields, to be developed with Chinese, Russian and Vietnamese companies.

Source: reuters.com/