Repsol makes Venezuela's biggest gas find

Repsol-YPF, Spain's biggest oil company, discovered a Venezuelan gas field containing as much as 8 tcf of fuel, one of the world's largest finds.
The field's potential gas resources would be enough to supply Spain for more than five years, the company said. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Repsol Chief Executive Officer Antonio Brufau discussed the find in Madrid, the company said.

Repsol wants to boost oil and gas production through new finds off the coasts of Brazil and Venezuela after four years of declining output. The company is also a partner in Brazil's Guara oil field, which may contain 2 bn barrels of oil.
In the development phase of the field, known as Cardon IV, state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela will have a 35 % stake in the project, with Repsol and ENI retaining a 32.5 % stake.

Venezuela's reserves
Venezuela has 174.9 tcf of natural gas reserves, the largest in South America. The country had 2.6 % of the world's proved natural-gas reserves in 2008, or the world's ninth-largest reserves, according to BP.
Most of the country's gas can be produced in combination with crude oil. Venezuela's oil output has declined since 1998, prompting it to import gas from Colombia. The country is seeking to expand gas output and become an exporter of liquefied natural gas, or LNG.

"Repsol wants to produce LNG," Diego Gonzalez, president of natural-gas consultancy Paradigmas XXI in Caracas, said. LNG can be exported by ship, allowing companies to charge more than Venezuela's government-set prices.
PdVSA, the state oil company with a monopoly on domestic natural-gas distribution, charges customers less than $ 1 per tcf for the fuel, Gonzalez said.