Harvest Natural Resources to sell Venezuelan assets to PT Pertamina for $725 mn
22 Jun 2012
US-based oil and natural gas producer Harvest Natural Resources Inc yesterday said that it will sell its Venezuelan assets to Indonesia's state-owned giant PT Pertamina, for $725 million.
The assets being sold are the remaining few left after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez nationalised most of the country's oil assets.
Houston-based Harvest will sell its 32-per cent stake in Petrodelta SA, a joint venture with Venezuelan state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).
Petrodelta's six fields hold gross proven reserves of 195 million barrels of oil and 235 billion cubic feet of gas.
Harvest said that the closing of the deal is subject to approvals from the governments of Venezuela and Indonesia.
In 2007, Chávez nationalised various big energy projects controlled by foreign companies, including several assets of Harvest, in order to increase state spending on anti-poverty schemes.