Dec. 7, 2010 (China Knowledge) - Venezuela's Ministry of Energy and Petroleum has signed six contracts with China National Petroleum Corp, China Petrochemical Corp or Sinopec Group and China National Offshore Oil Corp for a combined contract value of US$40 billion, bringing the three Chinese petrochemical giants a significant presence in the South American country.

CNPC, the parent firm of PetroChina Co Ltd<601857><0857><PTR>, inked one of the six deals to explore Junin 4 oilfield with a designed crude oil output capacity of 400,000 barrels per day. The Chinese company has a 40% stake in the project that will cost US$16 billion.

Chinese oil giant, Sinopec Group, which controlls Sinopec<600028><0386><SNP>, will jointly develop Junin 1 and Junin 8 blocks with Petroleos de Venezuela. Each of the two oil blocks will daily yield 200,000 barrels of crude oil. A refinery will also be built by the two partners.

CNOOC Ltd's<0883><CEO> parent China National Offshore Oil Corp will develop a 1.2 million-cubic feet natural gas project in Venezuela, sources reported

The State-owned China CAMC Engineering Co has reported signing contracts worth 7.15 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) with Venezuela to build infrastructure and supply agricultural machinery.

Five two-year agreements were signed with firms and agencies belonging to the agriculture ministry, the company said in a Shenzhen Stock Exchange statement.

The contracts are worth more than twice China CAMC's 2009 sales.

Source:China Daily