Pdvsa is negotiating with Eni and Repsol’s plan to export gas

With the help of Eni and Repsol SA, Venezuela is studying a $1,500 million plan with the European Union (EU) to capture its methane emissions and export them to the “old continent” in the form of natural gas.

According to information obtained by Bloomberg, the project will use part of the European Union’s Global Gateway Initiative funding to capture methane emissions from defunct oil wells and facilities in Venezuela.

The gas is then sent to Trinidad to be liquefied and transported to Europe.

The plan is to help cut pollution from Venezuela’s state oil company while improving natural gas supplies to the European Union amid Russia’s war with Ukraine.

A spokeswoman for the European Commission said negotiations were still at an early stage.

A feasibility study will be the first step to determine the scope of the repairs, while financing agreements have yet to be agreed upon, the person added.

Although the exact start date is yet to be fixed, the project is expected to be ready in about two years. For her part, Venezuelan Vice President Delsey Rodriguez confirmed the plan without providing further details.

Companies in charge of reviewing PDVSA’s hubs, plants and gas pipelines include Italy’s Eni, Spain’s Repsol and France’s Ébilesments Maural & Brom SA.

The 90-kilometer gas pipeline linking Venezuela and Trinidad at a cost of about $350 million is said to take 36 to 48 months from research to construction.

EU leaders are trying to restart ties with Latin America in a competition for influence with Russia and China, but disputes over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have hampered their efforts.

Last Monday the European Union announced that Latin America and the Caribbean will help invest more than 50,000 million dollars in clean energy, critical raw materials, health and education until 2027.

EU foreign affairs chief Joseph Borrell pointed to the need to help Venezuela reduce its emissions in an interview in El País in May.

Venezuela is “one of the countries that produces the most methane for whose benefit, while we in the EU need gas,” Borrell told the newspaper.

“We are considering a plan to extract this gas, allow Trinidad and Tobago to liquefy it and send it to Europe,” he added.

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