Russian oil consortium in Venezuela to expand to Cuba

MOSCOW, January 23 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian national oil consortium created to run oil projects in Venezuela will also cooperate with Cuba's state-run oil company Cubapetroleo, a memorandum signed between the two companies stated on Friday.

The deal was signed in the presence of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Vice President of the Cuban Council of Ministers Ricardo Cabrisas.

The oil and gas consortium of Russian companies to work in Venezuela, which was formed on October 8, 2008, includes Gazprom, Rosneft, TNK-BP, Surgutneftegaz and LUKoil.

The consortium of Russian companies is operated by Gazprom, while control of the Russian-Venezuelan oil and gas alliance is exercised by Venezuela's state-controlled Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA).

Oil to be produced by the consortium will be exported to the United States, China and Europe.

Cubapetroleo announced in October last year that Cuba may have more than 20 billion barrels of oil in its offshore fields. Cuba currently produces 60,000 barrels of oil per day.